Anton Chekhov

Christopher Hampton

A new translation of Chekhov's classic play.

The Seagull

When it opened in St Petersburg in 1896, The Seagull survived only five performances after a disastrous first night. Two years later it was revived by Nemirovich-Danchenko at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre, with Stanislavsky as Trigorin, and was an immediate success, changing for ever the nature and possibilities of drama. Chekhov's description of the play was characteristically self-mocking: 'A comedy - three f., six m., four acts, rural scenery (a view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of love'.

Tamara Turner

I remember doing a really in-depth analysis for school(which ended up being in vain but that's not why we're here today) of this play and boy, did I like it.
Although I can't remeber pretty much anything that happens in it(I can't even remember the characters' names, so it's kinda weird), it was cool and my thirteen-year-old self enjoyed it.

Анастасия Розова

*Read for class.

I liked some parts of this play, but mostly it was not for me.

Gabriela Roxana 

Powerful and beautifully written, yet failing to achieve greatness by making all the characters supremly miserable.

Robert Sanford Brustein

David French's brilliant translation of "The Seagull," in collaboration with Russian scholar, Donna Orwin, is at one and the same time a revitalization of a Russian theatre classic, and French's personal tribute to one of the greatest playwrights of all time. Cast of 5 women and 8 men.

Erin 

Okay, so I really only read this because it was announced the Saoirse Ronan is going to be in the movie version of this, and I love Saoirse Ronan. And I always love to read books before the movie comes out and it becomes popular. Not necessarily something I would have picked out on my own, this play is quite a quick read and perhaps entertaining at best, but the truth is that I'm really not that into plays to begin with, which just makes it that much harder for me to be impressed with it. At the very least I didn't hate it, and now I can say that I've read at least two different Russian novelists/playwrights, which at least makes me sound well-rounded and cultured.

weli 

kyahluka

The Seagull is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896.

Valerie

Meghan Todd

Mircea Tara

Isobel Gostling

Great Russian playwright's tragic masterpiece portrays the inner anguish of a tormented artist who burns with unrequited love. Acclaimed as a prototype of 20th-century drama, it brilliantly reveals the universal tragedy of ruined hopes and dreams.

The Sea Gull

Maryam Hasan

Theodora Pantelich

Jessica Kinlund

Amro Gebreel

Considered by some critics among one of the 100 most important plays of all times, The Seagull is the first of the four major plays of Anton Chekhov, revolving around the romantic and aristic relations of the four main characters. It was first staged in 1896 in St Petersbourg, resulting in a spectacular fiasco, but soon recovered to go on to become one of the most performed shows on all times.

Rachel

Laurence Senelick

Chekhov is a unique force in modern drama. His works have long been cherished for their brilliant wit and unusual ability to provide striking insights into the human condition. In these stunning, individually published translations of three of Chekhov's most popular and beloved plays, Laurence Senelick presents a fresh perspective on the master playwright and his groundbreaking dramas. This volume illuminates the timeless trials of art and love and bring Chekhov's memorable characters to life. Each of these three plays showcases the hallmark features of a Chekhov classic: clashing desires, complex family dynamics, the individual's loss of balance and sense of identity in the shifting eruptions of society and a modernizing Russia, and the angst of artistic struggle and ambition. Supplementing each of the plays are an account of Chekhov's life, a note on the translation, introductions to each work, and variant lines - often removed due to government censorship - which illuminate the context in which they were written and shed light on Chekhov's work as a playwright. These editions are the perfect guides to enriching our understanding of this great dramatist or to staging a production.

The Seagull

Reviews

Highlights