The Seagull

Alan Cumming is marvelous as Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin in Chekhov's The Seagull, directed by Viacheslav Dolgachev. And Kelli Garner (she plays Nina Mikhailovna) is one to watch. You may remember her as Margo from the film Lars and the Real Girl. She is the picture of innocence in her lace dresses. The Seagull is such a timeless story, but I didn't like Diane Wiest in the role of Irina Nikolayevna. She seemed too old to be believable as the woman who manages to keep her man in the face of youth's bloom. My sister said she saw the play in Central Park a few years ago with Meryl Streep in the role. Now that would have been interesting.

I read a funny story about a lunch where Chekhov when to see Leo Tolstoy to get feedback on his play. Tolstoy spoke about everything but the play and as the lunch dragged on, Chekhov began to despair that his mentor didn't like his work. Eventually he plucked up the courage to ask him what he thought of the play and he said: "It's almost as bad as Shakespeare." Hear, hear.

The Seagull has extended its run for another few weeks at the Classic Stage Company.