Theatre and real life weave a meta web of intrigue and insight in Aleksander Molochnikov's play-within-a-play
Russian theatre director Aleksander Molochnikov relocated from Moscow to New York after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. He was working on a reimagining of The Seagull by Chekhov at the time, but was exiled after he spoke out against Putin's targeted aggressions. Much like Molochnikov, the protagonist of Seagull: True Story, Kon (Daniel Boyd) is also carving out a new life for himself in the US after fleeing Russia with just a suitcase and a goldfish.
Created by Molochnikov and written by Eli Rarey, this meta play follows its namesake in many respects. Like Chekhov's matriarch Arkadina, Kon’s mother Olga is a famous star of the Moscow stage (played fittingly by international Lithuanian star Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė). There are also themes of ambition and a stricken story of love threaded through.
Seagull opens on a wide stage thronging with a cast of actors following Kon’s urging to improvise with costumes and props: "You are the Seagull… Let it fly!" They do indeed, as the stage direction calls that "the whole tableau becomes a giant bird in flight". An MC guides us through the narrative, addressing the audience directly and filling in the back story. He takes us into his confidence with telling comments – an approach that goes down well in Andrey Burkovskiy's winning performance.
The arrival onstage of a huge cake with candles reveals that it is Kon’s birthday. Anton (Elan Zafir), a close, poet friend, gifts him the outsize goldfish that will accompany him on his travels – confined to a huge bowl, it is a telling symbol – and they dance "the freedom dance”, with choreography by Ohad Mazor (who also plays the flamboyant Dmitri).
So far, all seems to be sweetness and light, but tension soon surfaces as Olga warns, "Be careful what you say, how you’re perceived", for fear of Kon being exiled. "Why should I stay in Moscow?" Kon retorts, suggesting that he call her producer friend in New York. The MC flags up this important plot point: "Mum has big-shot producer friend in New York."
That all this is interrupted by the sounds of violent battle thrusting us into the start of Putin’s "special military operation", as Kon quotes contemptuously, provides a frightening reality check. There is an extraordinary coup de théâtre now as three actors enter to music and chant their realisation of, and anger at, the deadly situation, covering news we are sadly too used to hearing. "They hit the maternity hospital, have you heard?" asks Nina in the play-within-the-play, "performed" by Nico (Molochnikov's version of Nina, a role commanded vividly by Stella Baker, always in red, whether it’s rags or lace).
The brave and supportive Anton, instead of introducing Kon to read a statement likely to compromise him with the authorities, reads one of his own poems – a reality check that ends with a clear implication to Putin’s responsibility for "this death and destruction". And, in a lighter moment, there is audience participation that involves the F-word and a panto-esque "Oh yes we do".
Kon, now on his way to New York, hopes to get an influential producer to stage his version of The Seagull. He ends up falling in love with the beautiful would-be actor Nico, dancing with her to a busking band on the subway and joining a commune. In an ever-more-twisting plot, Kon has a nightmare in which The MC gets to play Putin and even the story of the Three Little Pigs becomes the inspiration for a would-be hit show.
Though confusing at times, Seagull: True Story is more often revelatory and always absorbing, providing an evening of surprises that does not disappoint.
By Judi Herman
Photos by Mark Senior
Seagull: True Story runs until Sunday 12 October. 7.30pm, 2.30pm (Thu & Sat only). From £27.25. Marylebone Theatre, London, NW1 6XT. marylebonetheatre.com