Word: arkadina
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...less stirred by the revival that has received the most resounding critical huzzahs of the fall, the London Royal Court theatre's production of Chekhov's The Seagull. Kristin Scott Thomas is the biggest star name in this one, and as Arkadina, the aging actress around whom revolves a typically Chekhovian slice of unhappy provincial life, she's just fine, if somewhat less the diva than I imagine Arkadina on the page. Indeed, the whole cast deserves high grades (though Peter Sarsgaard, an American ringer among the Brits, brings down the curve a bit). What bothered me was the fussy...
...dominating, chattering mother, Arkadina (Lauren L. Jackson ’07), simply overpowers all conversation with her affected elitism. Her success as an actress and cultural savvy as a socialite affect everyone around her, especially her son, the ambitious playwright Konstantin Treplev (Liam R. Martin ’06). Other involving characters include the ailing Sorin (Sean P. Bala ’09), the conflicted, self-important writer Trigorin (Jack E. Fishburn ’08) and the aspiring actress Nina (Sophie C. Kargman...
...Voight, returning to Broadway for the first time in 25 years, gives an unshowy performance as the celebrity writer Trigorin that subtly conveys the character's lonely, inward-looking obsession with his craft. As the actress Arkadina, Tyne Daly stresses monstrous self-absorption. Not for Daly the customary dotty unawareness of how she puts down her son, a would-be avant- garde playwright; each belittling gesture is calculated cruelty. As the son, Ethan Hawke solves the play's pivotal problem, foreshadowing the youth's instability and making clear why he and not his at-wit's-end beloved, Nina, commits...
...staging by director Marshall Mason and set designer Marjorie Bradley Kellogg, the first act takes place outdoors, by a lake where Arkadina humiliates her son in his first artistic venture. Although the action gradually moves indoors, the trees never disappear. They stand throughout at the stage's edge, silent sentinels recalling the bitter moment that brings on all the play's ruin...
...same can be said of Catherine Zuber's costume design. There is blatant symbolism at work: in one scene Arkadina is dressed in red, innocent Nina in white and morbid Masha in black. Although hardly a surprise when Nina turns up in the second act dressed in red, one's concentration is only momentarily diverted...