THE SEAGULL

About the show

Sigrid Thornton returns to STC as the larger-than-life diva Irina, in a contemporary, gutsy and darkly funny new adaptation from Australia’s greatest interpreter of Chekhov: former STC Artistic Director Andrew Upton (The Present, Three Sisters). In a country house beside a lake, love triangles, intrigue and thwarted egos run amok. The glamorous, ageing thespian Irina Arkadina has arrived for a romantic getaway with her much younger lover, the novelist Boris. Irina’s son Constantine, a struggling playwright, is besotted with a beautiful ingénue from the next house over, Nina. But when a flirtation blossoms between Nina and Boris, jealousy, ambition and a lack of phone signal throw the whole party into various states of crisis. Director Imara Savage last beguiled STC audiences with her revelatory production Saint Joan in 2018. In The Seagull, Savage and a thrilling cast featuring Arka Das, Michael Denkha, Harry Greenwood, Markus Hamilton, Mabel Li, Sean O’Shea, Toby Schmitz, Megan Wilding and Brigid Zengeni, will take Upton’s wry and offbeat sense of humour to new heights in this ambitious investigation of the power of art and the complicated personalities that make it happen. The first of Chekhov’s great masterpieces, The Seagull is a smart, funny and moving play that is unmissable for anyone who loves theatre. In the hands of these extraordinary artists, we are in for something very special.