Theater review: ‘The Seagull’ at Art/Works Theatre

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If love is the ostensible theme of ‘The Seagull,’ what propels Anton Chekhov’s classic, and makes it a comedy, are the ironies that thwart desire. A kind of irony suffuses Marjo-Riikka Makela’s bipolar reading, caught between airy naturalism and stylized comment.

‘The Seagull’ is perhaps Chekhov’s trickiest work. Over-play for laughs and you shoot subtext in the head. Underline the tragic, and delicacy is lost. Here, famed actress Arkadina enters with a cortege of attached hangers-on, including author Trigorin, her lover. Konstantin, her frustrated son, presents his experimental play upstage, as the characters gaze out at us until Nina, his muse, cuts through them, ending in the aisle. Sorin, Arkadina’s ailing brother, warbles snatches of ‘The Sound of Music,’ and so forth.

The apparent intent is to parallel present-day Hollywood with Chekhov’s period-clad characters, as when the estate manager’s daughter Masha inhales snuff like a musician doing blow. Yet the staging succumbs to overt statements, and the acting is wildly variable.

Amelia Rose makes a lovely, promising Nina. Michelle Murphy’s sardonic Masha and Joshua Moore’s inept Medvedenko are essentially apt. Conversely, Devin Mills as Arkadina and George Villas as Trigorin are extravagantly mannered, almost baroque. Bobby Reed’s erudite Sorin might be a Noel Coward refugee, ad infinitum. At the reviewed performance, Wes McGee went on for Matthew Anderson as Konstantin, and his angst-ridden appeal was pure episodic television.

It’s not a thoughtless ‘Seagull,’ and obviously a labor of love. Yet the erratic mash-up of style, form and dysfunction doesn’t exactly soar.

-- David C. Nichols

‘The Seagull,’ Art/Works Theatre, 6569 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Ends Sept. 12. $24-$30. (800) 838-3006. Running time: 2 hours, 10 minutes