The Seagull was one of many plays written by Anton Chekhov (who was by the way born on Jan.29th, the day between my birthday and Gwyn's!). Checkhov was also a doctor and practiced throughout his writing career calling medicine his lawful wife and literature his
mistress. He wasborn in this house in the south of Russia where his physically abusive dad ran a grocery store and his mom told great stories of her travels all over Russia with her own father who was a cloth merchant. Chekhov's dad went bankrupt and fled to Moscow where the family lived in poverty, but Chekhov stayed behind.
Chekhov paid for his own education by catching and selling goldfinches, selling sketches to the newspaper and tutoring.
He started to read and have many love affairs. Finally he went to Moscow to rejoin his family and go to Medical school. He started to write and made more money at that then medicine where he would treat the poor for free. After successes he bought a small country estate south of moscow where he set up schools, firestations and medical relief for peasants around the area. This is a picture of him at the estate where he wrote the Seagull in a
little cabin amongst a cherry orchard. He met his wife during rehearsals for the Seagull and married her because she could fulfill his request of a partner: let her be like the moon and not live in my sky everyday. They lived mostly apart. One day when the two of them were travelling back from a spa in the Black Forest in Germany, Chekhov sat up very straight and said very loud (in German, though he didn't really speak it): "Ich sterbe" - "I'm dying." A doctor came running, gave him an injection and a glass of champagne which Chekhov took and smiled at his wife and said "I haven't had champagne for a long time", downed the glass and died. They transported his body back to Moscow in a freezer train meant to transport oysters.And now, the ballet we are going to in one hour, the Seagull, here is the gist:
Famous actress Arkadina (A) arrives with her lover Trigorin (T) at old dying brother's estate. A's son, Konstantin (K) writes a play that star Nina (N) and performs it for his mother and guests. His mother thinks his work is ridiculous and laughs at it while K storms off. K is in love with N and gives her a dead sea gull to proove it - one that he shot. N is confused and shows it to T who makes up a story of a girl who lives by the sea shore and who is as free and as happy as a seagull until a man comes around and ruins her life out of boredom like this seagull here. For some reason N is now drawn to T and devotes herself to him before he and A leave the estate. N is running away to become an actress and her and T plan to meet in Moscow. K shoots himself in the head, but misses and spends most of Act 3 with a bandage wrapped around his skull. N and T live together in Moscow for a bit until T abandons her to go back to A. 2 years later everyone is reunited at the estate b/c A's brother is dying and they all play bingo in the parlour until K shoots himself, for real this time and is dead.
When this play premiered in St.Petersburgh on Oct.17, 1896 the audience booed and the actress playing Nina lost her voice. Two years later it was put on by Stanislavski and blew everyone away. Time will tell what we three think of it ballet-styles....
