Opens 21st February 2014
The Lowry Theatre in Manchester’s Salford Quays is about to revive the classic Anton Chekhov comedy, The Seagull, with a whole new adaptation set for early 2014. With a flair for dramatic subtext, the play is built on the foundations of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, while developing more love and a little less action for the plot, so for fans of Russian theatre it’s a must see, and for everyone else it’ll be a chance to see something that was originally quite unconventional when it premiered in 1896 at the Alexandrinsky Theatre in Petersburg.
Opening at the Lowry Theatre on Friday the 21st February 2014, the production will have a short run until the 8th March 2014 with just 19 performances to choose from. Opening times are 7:15pm Monday to Saturday for the evening performance with matinees on Thursdays and Saturdays at 2pm. Tickets will be on sale shortly from the Lowry Theatre website with prices ranging from £11.50 to £20, plus a small booking fee.
The new adaptation has been penned by British playwright, Anya Reiss, whose new version gives the classic tale of struggling ambitions a more modern-day re-imagining. It’ll be the second production of her updated version of The Seagull, which was initially premiered at the Southwark Playhouse in London’s south bank in 2012.
If you’re not familiar with the storyline, it picks up with a famous actress’ visit to the country to spend time with her brother on his back-of-the-beyond estate. However, as with normal life, family time together isn’t always as easy as it should be with complex feelings dominating proceedings. Love triangles, family feuding and jealousy take over the stately retreat making for a dramatic comic setting.
As the ambitions of the family and friends at the estate start to break down in the face of reality in the country, and her son’s attempts to impress his famed mother with his own play end in ridicule the scene is set for a pretty dysfunctional family gathering.
The slow crumble of the ambitions of youth is a big part of the development of the plot, along with the comic disillusion of young love and the inevitable tragic conclusion that’s inspired by Shakespeare’s Hamlet. While it’s a new version of The Seagull, it sounds like the general flow and themes are still in tact for the production at The Lowry.
