Curtain Calls: Shotgun's Seagull rediscovers its humor
Sally Hogarty
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
insidebayarea.com

TBerkeley's Shotgun Players recently opened Emily Mann's upbeat version of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull.

Although Chekhov himself described the play as a comedy, productions often emphasize the unrequited love, overpowering egos and haunted characters prone to self-destruction.

"I wanted to blow off the dust that has covered up the fun, the humor, and all the deep, deep drama of Chekhov's work," Mann said in a 2008 interview.

To that end, Mann penned A Seagull in the Hamptons, which runs through April 25 at The Ashby Stage in Berkeley. Updated to the present, the play features a Goth-like Milly (well-played by Anna Ishida) as Chekhov's Marsha. In fact, all the characters' names are more pronounceable and their complex, diverse personalities more accessible thanks to Mann's contemporary language.

Robert Broadfoot's sandy seaside set captures the Bohemian atmosphere of this re-envisioned classic and allows the characters more freedom as they run barefoot through the sand in contrast to the often tightly-corseted, buttoned-down characters usually depicted in Chekhov's original.

Saint Mary's College professor Reid Davis directs a strong cast, especially Alex Moggridge as the successful novelist, Kelsey Venter as the impressionable Nina and Richard James as the ailing uncle. Saint Mary's College sophomore Liam Callister takes on the demanding role of the brooding young playwright, with Trish Mulholland as his self-absorbed mother, who cares more for her career than her son.