• THE SEAGULL
• BY ANTON CHEKHOV
• ROYAL SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
• DIRECTED BY TREVOR NUNN

SEP 7, 8, 12*, 14, 15, 20*, 21, 22, 27*, 28 & 29 AT 7:30PM
BAM HARVEY THEATER
TICKETS: $30, 55, 75, 90
*Performances featuring Ian McKellen in the role of Sorin are sold out.

Chekhov described his masterwork, The Seagull, as "a comedy in four acts." The comic nature of this play, which ultimately ends in tragedy, is revealed through the heartbreaking absurdity of its characters as they engage in fundamentally human dramas of unrequited love and unmitigated failure. Similarly to Chekhov's other major works, Uncle Vanya and The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull's main events take place off-stage, and the focus of the action is what transpires between the characters, with heartfelt feelings that once expressed, are later thwarted. Playwright Konstantin is in love with the young actress Nina, while Nina is infatuated with the writer Trigorin, the companion of Konstantin's mother, Arkadina. This utter desperation and lovesickness becomes an epidemic that reverberates within the domestic world of this remote Russian setting, symptomatically expressed through silences, cliché, verbal tics, and disastrous attempts at clarity.

The masterful Trevor Nunn, whose resume includes landmark productions of Shakespeare as well as the legendary Broadway runs of Cats, Les Misérables, and Sunset Boulevard, directs the Royal Shakespeare Company in this profound tale about the very human tendency to reject love that is freely given and seek it where it is withheld. The Seagull is presented in repertory with King Lear.

Set design by Christopher Oram
Lighting design by Neil Austin
Music by Steve Edis
Sound design by Fergus O'Hare
Fights by Malcolm Ransom