Seagull Review – Caroline Quentin shines in sharp, elegant Chekhov | stage

IIt’s great when Caroline Quentin dominates the stage. Quite the thing, because of the competition. One of the great strengths of this rewarding production – James Brining’s first since becoming artistic director – is his precise description. Each of Chekhov’s frustrated characters, searching for love, acceptance and applause, is drawn here with bold, clear and precise lines.

For Quentin to stand out in the role of Irina Arkadina, a conceited actress wandering the countryside in the summer, is to withdraw focus from a richly investigated ensemble. When she occupies the court, center stage, it is as if she is drawing the lights of Lizzy Powell’s early autumn towards her, glowing with interest while the rest of the busy family members become her attentive and obedient audience.

“I take care of myself,” she says, pausing before uttering: “…with passion!”

It’s a funny, daring, and star-studded performance only in the sense that she’s playing the star. In Mike Bolton’s light translation, Quentin plays one lost soul among many. She turns her anxieties into hustle and bustle, contrasting with the quiet desperation of drunken Masha (Tallulah Greif), hanging dog Medvedenko (Michael Dylan) or apologetic Polina (Erin Allan) – it’s all excellent.

Her young lover Trigorin (Devan Dwyfor) remains calm and accompanies him on the journey, while her son Konstantin (Lorne Macdonald) is trapped in an Oedipal dilemma, unsure whether to overthrow the old order or embrace it. Such an attitude fails to impress aspiring actress Nina (Harmony Rose Bremner) who opts for Trigorin’s urban charm and lives to regret it.

With equally outstanding performances from Forbes Mason as Dr. Dorn, John Pitt as Sorin and Stephen MacNicol as Shamrayev, Breining’s production has a certainty that underscores Chekhov’s humor as much as his pathos. Played amid the faltering grandeur of Colin Richmond’s set, The Color of Straw seems to have been drained of life, and loses some momentum in the closing confrontation between Konstantin and Nina, a relationship too muddled to be heartbreaking. Still, this is a vibrant, delicious and steady start to Brenning’s tenure.