From Thursday, Oct. 23 through Sunday, Oct. 26, the Carleton Theater department presented its fall play, The Seagull, originally written by Anton Chekhov and adapted by Anya Reiss. The play featured a student cast and crew and was directed by Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater, Jeanne Willcoxon.
The Carleton Theater Department puts on three major shows each year. This year, these shows include fall performances of “The Seagull,” an experimental piece in the winter and a musical in the spring.
“Our theme this year is ‘transformation’ — so that gave the base for figuring out a play,” said Willcoxon. She added that last winter and spring terms, the department met with theater majors and minors to get student input on which plays they would like to do along that theme. One such idea was Chekhov.
Set in 1890s Russia, Chekhov’s original work combines tragedy and comedy and centers around a group of artists and their intertwined lives.
“The show, in my eyes, is a story of one central family and then all of the connections to this one family,” said Kian Qinn-Calabrese ’28, who played the school teacher Semyon Semyonovich Medvedenko.
This web of connections consists of the owner of a house, his sister, his employees and extends from there. Much of the action is driven by the character’s various love interests, particularly the protagonist’s.
Willcoxon noted that some Chekhov plays benefit from older and more mature actors, which led her to Reiss’ adaptation of “The Seagull” that she felt was more appropriate for younger actors. This adaptation seeks to modernize this rendition and the Carleton production put yet another spin on it, setting the play in the Apostle Islands of Wisconsin rather than London, England.
Quinn-Calabrese shared, “It’s a pretty good adaptation. I think there are some issues with it in that it kind of gets rid of some of the poetry Chekhov is known for, as he is supposed to be Russian Shakespeare and this adaptation kind of gets rid of that, but I think for the most part, it’s well done.”
Tabitha Jones ’27, who saw the play as part of an assignment for ENG 295: Critical Methods, said, “It made sense to me when I read the original script that it would be Moscow and somewhere else and Russia and I know that its been previously adapted to be about London and the UK countryside, but to me I feel like the relationship between the Apostle Islands of Wisconsin and Manhattan and New York does not map onto those pairings.”
Once the show was identified, the process of bringing “The Seagull” to life began quickly. Casting and auditions were held during Week 1, while production and shop crews began considering scene, costume, sound and lighting design. After a meeting between Willcoxon and the designers and the student cast, rehearsals took off.
Stage manager Bella Fiorentini ’28 said, “Student workers do a bunch of work in the weeks leading up to the show, which includes creating costumes, finding props, working on the lights and constructing the set.” Fiorentini added that one especially interesting set piece was a house, which is a background element in the first half of the show but is flipped in the second half to serve as a functional room, helping to demonstrate a transition from the outdoors to the indoors.
According to Qinn-Calabrese, rehearsals were generally about four hours and occurred three-to-four times a week. As the performances approached, the frequency of rehearsals increased. Special tech rehearsals were also held to incorporate the technological elements of the play.
“Throughout this,” Willcoxin said, “I was taking notes and working with actors to navigate all these elements and dig deeper into the characters and the play.” She added that with a show like Chekhov’s there is so much subtext that actors must come to understand in order to truly connect with their characters and bring the show to life, which can be both fulfilling and quite a challenge.
Reflecting on the show, Quinn-Calabrese said, “My favorite part of the show would be the cast. It’s been such a spectacular experience to just work with them as every single person is just so incredible in their acting and in their personality, so just getting to interact with them on a daily basis has been so truly fun.”
A similar sentiment was echoed by Willcoxon: “There are so many ways to be involved and we welcome everyone to come and experience making theater with us! It is not only a way to learn about theater and working collaboratively to create something, it is also really, really fun!”
