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Anton Chekhov's
The Seagull Adapted & Directed by Jack Read March 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29 at 7:30 pm March 30 at 3:00 pm DC Arts Center 2438 18th St NW Washington, DC 20009 Tickets: $15 DCAC Members, $20 General Contact DCAC during open hours to retrieve DCAC member discount code,Wed-Sun, 2-7pm. 202-462-7833, or info@dcartscenter.org |
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On a summer’s evening, at a makeshift theater by a lake, a young writer's new work is performed. In the wake of its spectacular failure, its audience - all connected by love - confront their own regret, grief, mortality, pettiness, and loneliness. This play, naturally, is a comedy. Anton Chekhov's The Seagull was famously considered a disaster upon its debut in Petersburg in 1896. The author himself swore off writing plays. But one audience member, Anatoly Koni, believed it to be a vital piece of new theatre, a treatise on the aches of existing in this world as a human being: "It is life itself onstage with all its tragic alliances, eloquent thoughtlessness and silent sufferings - the sort of everyday life that is accessible to everyone and understood in its cruel internal irony by almost no one." Though written over a century ago for Russian audiences, The Seagull is an abiding tale that plumbs the joys and pains of our desperate human need to be close to one another. The Wheel Theatre Company's new version of Chekhov's comedy is an ode to our first drafts and our failures, to our most bewildering infatuations, to our futile, comic search for reason, and to our inexplicable ability to endure. Run Time: 100 Minutes, no intermission |
In the Press
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Cast & CrewArkadina, a famous actress, in love with Trigorin Olivia Haller
Sorin, her brother, a retired civil servant Axandre Oge Konstantin, her son, an obscure writer, in love with Nina Aron Spellane Shamrayev, manager of Sorin’s estate Adrian Iglesias Polina, his wife, in love with Dorn Elizabeth Floyd Masha, his daughter, in love with sadness Madeline Mooney Trigorin, a famous writer Thomas Shuman Dorn, a country doctor Colton Needles Medvedenko, a schoolteacher, in love with Masha Amber James Nina, an actress, in love with everything Gracie Eda Baker Jack Read - Director Simon Kiser - Original Music Brooke Gorsica - Lighting Design Elizabeth Floyd - Set/Props Design Kelley Van Dilla - Poster Design Ted Johnson - Photography |
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Character Names in The Seagull
As is typical in Russian theatre, the characters of The Seagull go by a variety of different names throughout the play. To help guide you through, here are a list of the alternative names you will hear in The Seagull:
- Arkadina: Irina Nikolaevna
- Sorin: Pyotr Nikolaevich, Petrusha
- Konstantin: Kostya
- Shamrayev: Illya
- Trigorin: Boris
- Dorn: Yevgeny
- Medvedenko: Semyonovich
- Arkadina: Irina Nikolaevna
- Sorin: Pyotr Nikolaevich, Petrusha
- Konstantin: Kostya
- Shamrayev: Illya
- Trigorin: Boris
- Dorn: Yevgeny
- Medvedenko: Semyonovich
A Brief Note from Our Director
I have wanted to do Anton Chekhov's The Seagull for a long time, even before Elizabeth Floyd and I co-founded The Wheel. While not my favorite of his plays, I find Seagull most lends itself to the exploration of young artists. One of the many ideas it balances is how the old wrestles with the new, and vice versa. Famous actress Arkadina cannot understand her playwright son Konstantin's desire to stage experimental, symbolist theatre - theatre that shows us "life not as it is, but as we dream it to be." He, in turn, struggles with her devotion to classical, realist melodrama.
As a group of young theatre artists in love with both the new and old (we are doing Chekhov, after all - happy belated 159th, by the way), we are giving validity to both sides. Though we are using a new adaptation, this is The Seagull as you know it - the same four-act structure, the same characters, the same love triangles, the same ending, many of the same jokes. But we are also expanding its world in ways that pay homage to that conflict of new and old. When you come to see The Wheel's production of The Seagull, you will see a prologue assembled from Chekhov's personal letters - something old - and you will see an epilogue that... well, it does something Chekhov might consider an artistic liberty, but that Konstantin would relish. We don't want to spoil the surprise. Something new.
We hope you'll take flight with us in March.
As a group of young theatre artists in love with both the new and old (we are doing Chekhov, after all - happy belated 159th, by the way), we are giving validity to both sides. Though we are using a new adaptation, this is The Seagull as you know it - the same four-act structure, the same characters, the same love triangles, the same ending, many of the same jokes. But we are also expanding its world in ways that pay homage to that conflict of new and old. When you come to see The Wheel's production of The Seagull, you will see a prologue assembled from Chekhov's personal letters - something old - and you will see an epilogue that... well, it does something Chekhov might consider an artistic liberty, but that Konstantin would relish. We don't want to spoil the surprise. Something new.
We hope you'll take flight with us in March.
Please Note: The Seagull features characters dealing with mental illness, a treatable brain disease. If you or a loved one are living with mental illness, know that there are many paths towards survival.
(1) The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. Carry this number with you for people who may need it, yourself included.
(2) Call 211 to find out about affordable mental health resources in your area. For more info, http://www.211.org/services/health.
(1) The National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. Carry this number with you for people who may need it, yourself included.
(2) Call 211 to find out about affordable mental health resources in your area. For more info, http://www.211.org/services/health.
Thank you!
Thank you to our generous donors who helped us wildly surpass our fundraising goal by 132%!
We'd like to once again publicly acknowledge our donors. Aveta Health, Ben Apple, Donovan Dorrance, Zach Fichter, Mark and Anne Byrn Floyd, Patricia Grove, Susan Haller, Terri Harrison, Beverly and Tarpley Jones, Alex Lew, Anna Martin, Marla Minnicino, Keeley Mooney, Stuart C. Moore, Dan Oliver, Owen Panettieri, Christian Phipps, Jaclyn Robertson, Brenda Snell, Elizabeth Ung, Eddie White, Chris Woodworth and Joshua Yoder - and, of course, those who wish to remain anonymous - thank you for helping us roll forward!
Special Thanks:
Emergence Community Arts Collective; DC Arts Center; DC Theatre Scene; DC Metro Theatre Arts; MD Theatre Guide; Washington City Paper; Mark and Carter Floyd for helping build THE seagull; Ted Johnson for the bench and the photography; Andrew Comstock for the coin; Emily MacLeod; Molly Cohen; Thadd McQuade; PJ Desutter; Matt Minnicino for the very sturdy table and all of the doctors and nurses at GWU Hospital.
We'd like to once again publicly acknowledge our donors. Aveta Health, Ben Apple, Donovan Dorrance, Zach Fichter, Mark and Anne Byrn Floyd, Patricia Grove, Susan Haller, Terri Harrison, Beverly and Tarpley Jones, Alex Lew, Anna Martin, Marla Minnicino, Keeley Mooney, Stuart C. Moore, Dan Oliver, Owen Panettieri, Christian Phipps, Jaclyn Robertson, Brenda Snell, Elizabeth Ung, Eddie White, Chris Woodworth and Joshua Yoder - and, of course, those who wish to remain anonymous - thank you for helping us roll forward!
Special Thanks:
Emergence Community Arts Collective; DC Arts Center; DC Theatre Scene; DC Metro Theatre Arts; MD Theatre Guide; Washington City Paper; Mark and Carter Floyd for helping build THE seagull; Ted Johnson for the bench and the photography; Andrew Comstock for the coin; Emily MacLeod; Molly Cohen; Thadd McQuade; PJ Desutter; Matt Minnicino for the very sturdy table and all of the doctors and nurses at GWU Hospital.
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The Seagull will take place at: District of Columbia Arts Center 2438 18th St Washington, DC 20009 Getting there (From DCAC Website): By Bus: Take the 42 and H1 buses to 18th and Columbia Rd or the 91, 92, 93, 96 and 98 buses to 18th St. By Metro: DCAC is a ten minute walk from the Woodley Park-Adams Morgan metro station, and fifteen minutes from the Dupont Circle station. When exiting the Adams Morgan metro station, turn left on Calvert St. Once crossing the bridge, Calvert St. becomes 18th St. DCAC is on the right side, just past Columbia. When exiting the Dupont Circle Q St. metro station, take a left on Connecticut. Follow Connecticut until it turns into Columbia Rd. Turn right on 18th, DCAC is on the right side above Smoothie King and across the street from The Diner. By Car: (map) Street parking in Adams Morgan can be very difficult, but there are two commercial parking lots close to DCAC both are owned by Colonial Parking: |
Nearby Bars & Restaurants
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Al Volo: 1790 Columbia Rd NW
Amsterdam Falafelshop: 2425 18th St NW Astor Mediterrranean: 1829 Columbia Rd NW Bedrock Billards: 1841 Columbia Rd NW Bossa: 2463 18th St NW The Diner: 2453 18th St NW DonBuri: 2438 18th St NW El Tamarindo: 1785 Florida Ave NW Federalist Pig: 1654 Columbia Rd NW The Grill from Ipanema: 1858 Columbia Rd NW High Dive DC: 2337 18th St NW Habana Village: 1834 Columbia Rd NW Jack Rose: 2007 18th St NW Johnny’s Half Shell: 1819 Columbia Rd NW Jug & Table: 2446 18th St NW Jyoti Indian: 2433 18th St NW La Granja de Oro: 1832 Columbia Rd NW |
Lapis: 1847 Columbia Rd NW
Los Cuates: 2429 18th St NW Madam’s Organ: 2461 18th St. NW Mama Ayesha’s: 1967 Calvert St NW Mellow Mushroom: 2436 18th St NW Mintwood Place: 1813 Columbia Rd NW Perry’s: 1811 Columbia Rd NW Pop’s SeaBar: 1817 Columbia Rd NW Roofer’s Union: 446 18th St. Rosario: 2435 18th St NW Rumba Cafe: 2443 Columbia Rd NW SakuRamen: 2441 18th St NW Smoke & Barrel: 2471 18th St NW Songbyrd Record Cafe: 2477 18th St NW Southern Hospitality: 1815 Adams Mill Rd NW Tryst: 2459 18th St NW Wok and Roll: 2400 18th Street NW |