Stage and screen icon Sigrid Thornton (The Lifespan of a Fact) returns to Sydney Theatre Company’s Roslyn Packer Theatre this November in an unmissable new adaptation of The Seagull from Australia’s greatest interpreter of Chekhov and former STC Artistic Director, Andrew Upton.
In a country house beside a lake, love triangles, intrigue and thwarted egos run amok. The glamorous, ageing thespian Irina Arkadina has arrived for a romantic getaway with her much younger lover, the novelist Boris.
Irina’s son Constantine, a struggling playwright, is besotted with a beautiful ingénue from the next house over, Nina. But when a flirtation blossoms between Nina and Boris, jealousy, ambition and a lack of phone signal throw the whole party into various states of crisis.
Directed by Imara Savage, who last beguiled STC audiences with her revelatory production of Saint Joan in 2018, Thornton takes on the larger-than-life role of diva Irina Arkadina, alongside Toby Schmitz (The Present) as the imprudent Boris Trigorin.
They lead a talented cast including Arka Das (STC debut), Michael Denkha (A Streetcar Named Desire), Harry Greenwood (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Markus Hamilton (Fences), Mabel Li (STC debut), Sean O’Shea (The Importance of Being Earnest), Megan Wilding (The Importance of Being Earnest), and Brigid Zengeni (Death of a Salesman).
The creative team includes David Fleischer (Set Designer), Renée Mulder (Costume Designer), Amelia Lever-Davidson (Lighting Designer), Max Lyandvert (Composer & Sound Designer), Marina Lobastov (Literal Translator), Ian Michael (Assistant Director), Tim Dashwood & Troy Honeysett (Movement Consultants) and Chloë Dallimore (Intimacy Coordinator).
Upton’s contemporary, darkly funny, and gutsy reimagining of the timeless Chekhov classic follows his masterstroke adaptations of the internationally acclaimed STC productions, The Present (2010) and Uncle Vanya (2015).
Widely considered to be the first of Chekhov’s great masterpieces, The Seagull is smart, funny and moving in equal measure as it ambitiously investigates the power of art and the complicated personalities that make it happen.
The Seagull
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Hickson Road, Walsh Bay (Sydney)
Season continues to 16 December 2023
Information and Bookings: www.sydneytheatre.com.au
Image: The Cast of The Seagull – photo by Rene Vaile