The Seagull

Last night, we viewed The Seagull at Regent's Open Air Theatre in Regents Park.  Viewing a play outdoors was quite a different experience than sitting in a theatre.  The audience is exposed to all of the elements, and it got quite cold once the sun really started going down.  It also very lightly sprinkled at a few moments, leaving me in a panic because I was without a rain jacket.  There was also more natural distractions, such as birds, planes, helicopters, and men playing a game that could be heard off in the distance. 

Despite all of that, I really do think that being outside enhanced the quality of the set, specifically the first hour or so of the play before the interval.  The first half of the play was written to be outside by Anton Chekhov.  It is set in a field in the Ukrainian countryside right next to a beautiful lake.  Many theatres companies could stage this (and have staged this) in traditional indoor venues, but I think being outside allowed the audience to get a truer picture of Chekhov's vision for that action.  Parts of the set involved real trees and real water.  It gave the play a higher level of credibility to have these real elements in play with the set. 

On the contrast, the entire set after the interval was meant to be inside the house that sits on the land that was staged in the first part of the production, so one can argue that this took away from those sets.  I actually think it did take away from those sets because if staged inside, the set could have included walls and doors, and I thought there was something missing last night.  Having said that, I think the director did a very good job with what he was working with.  In the final scene of the play where Konstantin blocks the "door" with all of the chairs, there really is no door to block, and it is quite obvious that the characters can walk around this "barrier."  I loved the decision to leave Konstantin on stage watching his work burn in the trash bin by the desk while the other characters were walking throughout the room looking for him.  That visual, along with the sound effects you heard, was a perfect way to give the audience the effect that there was a door that was blocked, but it also gave us the effect of Konstantin's burning work and his despair or anger for it. 

I thought the play was fairly good for what it is, but overall, I just do not like that story.  I think it is quite boring.  It was definitely a good experience to see a play in an open air outdoor theatre.