Chekhov could never have imagined the many different interpretations that would be staged of his first great play, The Seagull, and he would certainly have struggled to picture one featuring quad bikes, VR headsets, and a golf buggy! This is Thomas Ostermeier’s highly anticipated production of The Seagull, now playing at the Barbican Theatre, and it’s a breathtaking spectacle that both honours Chekhov’s classic and reinvents it for a modern audience.
The Seagull weaves a complex tapestry of unrequited love and artistic ambition set against the backdrop of a Russian country estate. The story revolves around the fading actress Arkádina, her son Konstantin (Kosta in this version), and their entangled relationships with those around them.
Kosta, an aspiring playwright, seeks to revolutionise theatre and win the affections of Nina, a young actress from a neighbouring estate. However, Nina becomes infatuated with Trigorin, a successful writer and Arkadina’s lover.
Leading the cast is Cate Blanchett, who returns to the London stage after a seven-year absence. Blanchett’s Arkádina is a triumph, a larger-than-life presence that dominates both the stage and the lives of those around her. Imagine Edina from Ab Fab, but even more self-obsessed. Her portrayal of a celebrated actress who isn’t always the star of the show in real life is grotesquely funny and deeply sensitive, capturing the character’s vanity and insecurity with laser-focussed precision. Blanchett’s command of the role is absolute, at one point the audience unsure if we’re still watching a play, or a real-life breakdown.
Tom Burke’s Trigorin provides a perfect foil to Blanchett’s Arkádina. His nuanced performance as the successful writer torn between his lover and the young, aspiring actress Nina is heartbreaking to watch unfold. The chemistry between Blanchett and Burke crackles with tension, their scenes together mesmerising.
Emma Corrin’s Nina is also superb. Their portrayal of the naive young actress who becomes entangled in the web of desires and ambitions spun by the older characters is deeply moving. Corrin brings a fresh vulnerability to the role, making Nina’s tragic arc all the more poignant.
The supporting cast is equally stellar. Jason Watkins as Sorin delivers some of the play’s best one-liners, while Tanya Reynolds brings a sardonic edge to the lovelorn Masha. Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Konstantin is a study in frustrated ambition and unrequited love, his struggle to emerge from his mother’s shadow palpably felt.
Ostermeier’s direction, in collaboration with Duncan Macmillan’s adaptation, unlocks the power of The Seagull for a modern audience, bringing a thrilling clarity to Chekhov’s exploration of art, ambition, and the human condition. As has become a bit of a ‘thing’ recently, the actors speak random lines into microphones, often adding unnecessary inflections to the words, thankfully the instances of this are few and far between, and in one moment (Sorin’s final scene) actually works quite well.
The production balances the play’s inherent tragedy with plenty of biting humour, just as Chekhov intended, creating a deeply engaging theatrical experience. Magda Willi’s sparse set design, featuring only a thicket of plants on the vast Barbican stage, is both literal and metaphorical. It provides hiding places for the characters while symbolising the tangled relationships and desires that drive the narrative.
The use of music, particularly songs by Billy Bragg and The Stranglers’ “Golden Brown”, adds a contemporary touch without feeling forced. Zachary Hart delights the audience with live musical performances, and in breaking the fourth wall, which often results in hilarity.
Ostermeier’s The Seagull feels startlingly relevant. Just like his production of An Enemy of The People, it speaks directly to the audience on themes affecting the world today; what use is theatre and art when we stand at the brink of war, they ask. Ostermeier and Macmillan have crafted a version that speaks to our current obsessions with fame, art, and self-actualisation, while never losing sight of the human drama at its core.
This Seagull soars on the strength of its extraordinary ensemble cast, led by Blanchett. This is how you reinvent a masterpiece; it’s a production that reminds us why Chekhov’s play has endured for over a century, but more importantly, offers fresh insights into its characters and themes.
