Performed at the Space on: Tue 26th – Sun 31st January, 2010

To mark Anton Chekhov’s 150th anniversary Bottled Spider Productions presents a new adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s classic play.

By a beautiful bewitching lake, seven friends struggle with life, love, money, jealousy and theatre.

Produced by a talented, young fresh, professional company this is a Chekhov’s classic reassessed and reclaimed for a new generation.

This fast and funny new adaptation combines moments of hilarity alongside the tragedy of existence… and art.

A short review by Andrea Neal

Last week, The Space played host to a performance of The Seagull by Anton Chekhov in honour of his 150th birthday. Having never read or seen anything by Chekhov before, I was eager to see what the show held. Simply put, the performance was spectacular! The cast was splendid and they each played their part well. The troupe shortened the text to comfortably fit into an hour and a half. On a technical note, the costumes were changed from the late 1800s to the twenty-first century. As one fellow audience member noted, the director was able to keep the comedy in The Seagull which is how Chekhov preferred the show. Given the serious themes and actions in the play, it can be easy to call Chekhov’s works dramas, but this is not true. The young woman playing Nina, the struggling actress and leading love interest, was believable in everyway; innocent and funny one moment then gut-wrenching and pitiful the next moment. Every actor on-stage that night captured the true essence of their character and made it their own. Between the hard-working cast and the visionary director, Chekhov would have had a happy birthday indeed!

Ria Zmitrowicz & Edward Rice

Director Ade O’Brien at the Birthday Party for Chekhov

Pictures by Mari Rettedal-Westlake