The Seagull performed in March 2016
Theatre Novi Most presented the iconic Russian classic by Anton Chekhov about love, art and the power and meaning of symbols, The Seagull. Staged by Russian director and Novi Most co-artistic director, Vladimir Rovinsky, this production disengaged the play from the clichés of samovars, corsets, and the “mysterious Russian soul” and instead addressed our contemporary world of disconnection and the desperate longing for love that is our seething, vibrating underbelly. In this existential and darkly humorous mediation on the stakes of living life and making art, Theatre Novi Most reminded us that Chekhov is supremely one of us.
This work was presented as part of The Southern Theater’s ARTshare program, in repertory with three new works of dance by local choreographers, and included a distinguished team of Twin Cities artists: actors Barbra Berlovitz (Arkadina) and Pearce Bunting (Dorn) returned from last year’s Rehearsing Failure and Julianna Drajko(Masha) performed her third role with the company after her work in M2:Mayakovsky and Marinetti and The Oldest Story in the World. They were joined by Novi Most newcomers Nathan Christopher (Treplev), Paul de Cordova (Trigorin), Terry Hempleman (Sorin), Kimberly Richardson (Paulina), Shelby Richardson (Nina), Matt Wall (Medvedenko), and Garrett Vollmer (Shamrayev) with Kenzi Allen, Alec Lambert, Rick Miller, and Bree Schmidt in the ensemble. The creative team included Michael Burden (scenery), Johanna Gorman-Baer (composer/music director), Zeb Hults (technical director), Kalen Keir (sound), Ian Knodel (lights/projections), Jeni O’Malley (costumes), Jack Tillman (assistant stage manager), and Jared Zeigler (stage manager).
Watch a video clip here: The Seagull
In the press:
Cherry and Spoon found it, “…funny, tragic, odd, and completely enchanting.”
The City Pages said, “It’s certainly Chekhov like you’ve never seen it before, and it’s often highly amusing… Ultimately, it’s Richardson who draws us back to the heart of the matter. Amid the hubbub, she holds tight to Nina’s sincerity. In a show that’s often larger than life, Richardson reminds us that life itself is big enough.” For her work in The Seagull, City Pages named Shelby Richardson Best Actress of 2017.