The Seagull
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Cititour.com Review
It's hard to take your eyes off Kristin Scott Thomas in this sumptuous import from Britain's Royal Court Theatre. That's not because she's the only thing on stage worth looking at, nor is it because she engages in any explicit scene-stealing. But as the unabashedly self-absorbed aging actress Arkadina, she's every bit the "psychological curiosity" her sullen son Konstantin brands her in Christopher Hampton's eloquent translation of Chekhov. When her ailing brother Sorin collapses, you see it in the way she takes a sip of water before offering him any. (Do you blame her? Think of the effect his poor health is having on her!) She's well paired with Peter Sarsgaard who, as the nonchalant Trigorin, a spoiled self-loather like Arkadina, makes his character's careless disregard for Nina's welfare particularly disturbing.
It's too bad that other co-stars don't always match her tit for tat. As Konstantin and Nina, Mackenzie Crook and Carey Mulligan wistfully capture the early stages of young love but, amid great rainstorm sound effects by Ian Dickinson, their teary final scene limps along. Promising newcomer Zoe Kazan works too hard to make Masha's suffering believable.
Director Ian Rickson and set and costume designer Hildegard Bechtler evoke both the magical and woebegone atmosphere of a country home beset by loss and decay. But the evening truly belongs to Scott Thomas, who slides effortlessly between moments of actressy vanity, bursts of vigor and bouts of anger. So methodically does she inhabit the psyche of her character that she not only holds sway over her family and entourage, she mesmerizes audiences too.
By Diane Snyder
Visit the Site
http://www.seagulltheplay.com
Cast
Kristin Scott Thomas, Peter Sarsgaard, Mackenzie Crook, Zoe Kazan, Art Malik, Carey Mulligan, Pearce Quigley, Peter Wight, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Mary Rose
Open/Close Dates
Opening 9/16/2008
Closing 12/21/2008
Box Office
(212) 239-6200
Theatre Info
Walter Kerr Theatre
219 West 48th Street
New York, NY 10036
Map
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