Following a critically acclaimed, sold-out Off-Broadway run at La Mama in New York City, Seagull: True Story will transfer to London’s Marylebone Theatre this autumn.
Running from Friday 5 September to Saturday 11 October 2025, this bold and darkly comic production is presented by MART and Wild Yak.
Seagull: True Story is a politically charged remix of Chekhov’s The Seagull, blending autobiographical drama, satire, and Chekhovian themes. The story follows Kon, a Russian director whose reimagining of The Seagull is censored following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Stripped of his artistic freedom, Kon flees to New York in search of creative salvation. But in a land of supposed liberty, he finds new challenges in redefining himself as an artist.
The production is inspired by the real-life experiences of award-winning Russian director Alexander Molochnikov, who left Russia in 2022 after publicly opposing the war in Ukraine.
“I never thought I’d have the courage to stage a play about myself, but the war has changed life so drastically that in the past three years, I’ve been living and reliving a full-fledged drama,” says Molochnikov. “It is the most important thing I’ve ever had to do, a story of a world of creativity bursting before my eyes, of the impossibility of freely creating art and the necessity to fight for its freedom in both Russia and the US!”
The production uses song, multimedia, absurdist humour, and layered metatheatre to explore the fragility of art, identity, and freedom under authoritarian regimes.
Molochnikov leads a stellar international cast in a story of love, betrayal, and the struggle to make meaningful art in a world where truth is dictated by power.
Through humour and satire, Seagull: True Story reveals the cost of creative freedom—not as a noble ideal, but as a daily negotiation with power, relevance, and survival.
Listings and ticket information can be found here.
