The Neumann University Players will stage The Seagull, a tragicomedy by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, on November 14-17 in the Meagher Theatre.
Performances are on November 14-16 at 8 p.m. and November 17 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors. Opening night is free for Neumann students.
The play, set in the late 1890s, explores the lives and relationships of four artists who are guests at a country estate: Arkadina, a middle-aged actress; her son Konstantin, an aspiring writer; Trigorin, a successful writer; and Nina, a young actress.
The work reveals the character and philosophy of two writers and two actors whose romantic and artistic conflicts unfold on stage in a realistic way.
The characters probe themes of unrequited love, jealousy, ambition, and unfulfilled potential.
"I teach Chekhov every semester in my classes,” explains John Baxter, the professor who is directing the play, “but most students have no reference point for the material. This was a good year to introduce The Seagull into our Neumann University Players repertoire. We've only ever performed Chekhov once before, but it was a version of The Three Sisters we filmed and posted to YouTube during the pandemic."
Chekhov (1860-1904) captured life in the Russia of his time and is regarded as an outstanding representative of late 19th-century Russian realism.
Other famous plays by Chekhov include The Cherry Orchard, The Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya.
Chekhov is often referred to as one of the three seminal figures in the birth of early modernism in the theatre. He was a physician by profession but authored many plays and short stories.
"Medicine is my lawful wife," he once wrote, "and literature is my mistress."
The Neumann University Players is a company of students, faculty, staff, and alumni that was founded in 1984. The group produces two or more fully staged plays annually selected from a wide range of drama, including Shakespeare, musicals, and contemporary plays.