Scenes from The Seagull

The Seagull slideshow

Photos by Michael Lutch from the production of Chekhov’s classic on stage now through Feb. 1 2009 at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge, MA.

Dreams born and shattered, loves won and lost… The Seagull paints a rich and tumultuous portrait of the human heart.

“Powerful and astute performances…a fascinating portrait…exciting work… that’s what theater needs—now, and no doubt 200,000 years from now, too.”
—Louise Kennedy, The Boston Globe

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Online Hubbub: The Seagull

Let us know what you thought!

Did director János Szász’s staging change any of your ideas about Chekov?

János Szász is primarily a film director.  What seemed cinematic about the production to you?  How is the experience of live theatre different from seeing a film?

The young playwright Konstantin Treplev wants to create a theatre of the future.  What is your vision of a theatre of the future?

Other comments?

The Seagull envisions the theatre of the future

Anton Chekhov’s groundbreaking play The Seagull opens with Konstantin Treplev’s passionate cry for “…new forms! We need new forms, and if we can’t have them, then we’re better off with no theater at all.” Konstantin’s play-within-the-play is a challenge to old forms and an attempt to expand the boundaries of what theatre can be.

What is YOUR vision of the theatre of the future? What new forms do you think theatre will take?

Introducing Endgame

Samuel Beckett’s Endgame is one of the most beautiful, enigmatic, and absurdly funny plays of the twentieth century.  It is built as a kind of riddle, in which many meanings can be found – or, Beckett would probably prefer to say, no meaning.

Introducing The Seagull

Hungarian director János Szász has been a favorite with A.R.T. audiences since 2001, when he dazzled us with his breathtaking production of Mother Courage.  Since then he has staged spectacular versions of Marat/Sade, Uncle Vanya, and Desire Under the Elms, always using the cavernous Loeb Stage to eye-popping effect.

Introducing the 2008-09 season

Now that we have announced the A.R.T.’s 2008-09 season, and I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts as I assembled these seven productions. I hope you’ll agree that it’s a terrific line-up, consisting of seven very different theatrical experiences–new plays and classics, comedies and dramas, great epics and chamber pieces, with a healthy dose of spectacle and politics, heartbreak and whimsy.