The Sea Gull

Raven Theatre presents The Sea Gull by Anton Chekhov in a translation by Jean-Claude van Itallie, directed by Michael Menendian, opening Sunday, March 25, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark Street.  Chekhov’s dark yet comedic masterpiece, depicting the quintessential dysfunctional family, explores situations that today’s American audiences can easily relate to:  hating a job, keeping a family together, needing to belong, wishing for fame, and suffering an unrequited love.

Menendian says he chose Jean-Claude van Itallie’s translation because he finds it “easily accessible to modern audiences, while remaining true to the spirit of Chekhov’s intentions.”

Van Itallie began writing plays off-Broadway in the sixties; his translations of Chekhov’s four major plays were published in the seventies.  One of the original ‘LaMama playwrights,’ he has taught playwriting and performance at Princeton, NYU, Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and many other colleges.  Tony Kushner has referred to van Itallie as his “only” playwriting teacher. 

Director and Co-Set Designer Michael Menendian is a co-founding member of Raven Theatre, where he has simultaneously directed and set designed many productions, earning several Joseph Jefferson and After Dark awards.  His productions include American Buffalo, A Few Good Men, Dancing at Lughnasa, Golden Boy, Marvin’s Room, A Streetcar Named Desire, A View from the Bridge, You Can’t Take It with You, Glengarry Glen Ross, and many others.

Q&A with Michael Menendian:

1.  How did you come to include Chekhov in Raven’s current season?
I have wanted to direct Chekhov for my entire career—over 30 years of directing—but had always felt that I wasn’t quite ready, or that I didn’t have the proper resources, or that it wasn’t the right time for Raven.  In the last two years, I found we kept putting him off for one reason or another.  Since we are largely known for doing American classics, I may have been somewhat reluctant to move outside of that realm.  However, our mission is not solely to present American plays, but also other works that illuminate the American experience.  And although Chekhov’s stories are, on one level, unique to their time and place of late 19th-century Russia, I believe they also can be universally accessible and can speak volumes to contemporary American audiences.

2.  The Sea Gull has a long rehearsal process – why did you feel that was important?
In general, Raven Theatre is committed to providing our artists with ample rehearsal time and previews.  We always build this time into our schedule, usually ten to twelve weeks of rehearsals and one week of previews.  However, for The Sea Gull, we are even further extending that process.  The play will rehearse for a total of four months, which has already started with one month of table readings.  One of the challenges with Chekhov is his use of indirect action, because it can result in little of dramatic consequence seemingly happening on the surface.  To me, this creates a need to really flesh out his characters and find their underlying truths.  So, I wanted to give myself and the ensemble additional time to do that work.

3.  Are there any design elements you are particularly excited about?
Well, I generally design the set for shows that I direct, so I am always eager as a set designer to create a world that can fulfill all of my own needs as a director!  For this play, I’m also tremendously excited about the music.  The Sea Gull is quite musical, both figuratively in its tone and literally in its actions.  For example, Treplyev plays guitar to underscore Nina’s performance, and later plays mournful waltzes off-stage.  We are incorporating these elements into our production with a wonderful composer, award-winning Leif Olson, who has collaborated with me on a number of shows.  He has created a beautiful score for The Sea Gull, and I can’t wait for our audiences to hear it. 

4.  Tell me about Raven’s community of artists.
We have a wonderful community of actors who return to our stages again and again.  In fact, all but one of the actors in The Sea Gull have worked with us before, some of them for many years and in scores of productions.  Esther McCormick, our oldest ensemble member at 75, has been with Raven for over twenty years.  We also have two married couples in The Sea Gull:  Chuck Spencer and Millicent Hurley-Spencer (although in this production, her character is married to someone else), and I am directing my wife JoAnn Montemurro in the role of Arkadina. 


Special Event on Sunday, April 29:

Prior to the 3:00 p.m. matinee on Sunday, April 29, Raven Theatre will offer a Russian buffet lunch and vodka tasting in its lobby.  Following the performance, Professor Gary Saul Morson of Northwestern University will lead a discussion.  Morson has written on Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and other Russian literary figures.  He recently completed a fictional work that satirizes and parodies key Russian writers, cultural movements, and politics.  Tickets are $50.