The Seagull

When Judy Davis’ character asked “Petrusha, are you bored?” I wanted to say, ”Well if she’s not, I certainly am!”


Don’t get me wrong this production of Anton Chekhov’s classic play has its good points, but there are some serious flaws that interfere with the overall result.


Set in contemporary Australia down the coast, Benedict Andrews’ translation revives the play in terms of making it modern, but in his interpretation the natural pacing of the original is lost. Therefore the first half has pace, spontaneity and genuinely funny moments. But the second half is laboured and feels very long. It’s as if all of the classic Chekhovian pauses were saved for the second half and instead of being drawn in by it, the audience were restless.


Technically the production was well realised and engaging. The set gave a sense of space and yet at the same time felt claustrophobic and evoked memories of family holidays, staying in beach shacks, sleeping in uncomfortable bunk beds with bad lighting. It must be said the sound and music design was beautiful and added an extra dimension to the show.


The ensemble cast is strong and worked well together. But David Wenham was miscast as Trigorin and as a result his performance was surprisingly hard to watch. Emily Barclay as the troubled Masha was wonderful in all her goth glory. It was a rare experience to watch Judy Davis tread the boards and she was captivating, but I feel like I have seen this character from her before, perhaps in a Woody Allen film.

Whitney Fitzsimmons

Images: Top - Emily Barclay; Lower - Judy Davis & David Wenham Photographer: Heidrun Lohr.

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