New Sexy, Sassy Adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull

A New Sexy, Sassy Adaptation of Anton Chekhov's
The Seagull
A Roundtable Ensemble Production
Premiering in NYC January 12th, 2005

The Roundtable Ensemble, Producer Joshua Weiss, celebrates its fifth anniversary with the premier of an extraordinary new adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, adapted and directed by Michael Barakiva. Performances begin Wednesday, January 12th and end January 29th at the Blue Heron Arts Center, 123 East 24th Street. Show times are Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2pm (no matinee Saturday, January 29). Tickets are $15, and TDF vouchers are accepted. For reservations please call 212.818.9431. More information about the play and The Roundtable Ensemble is available at http://www.roundtableensemble.org.

The Seagull is the story of the original dysfunctional family: A young writer's girlfriend is in love with his mother's celebrity boyfriend, who loves them both. And then things get complicated. This accessible new adaptation highlights the comedy found in the agony of everyday life. Chekhov's dark comedic masterpiece pokes fun at situations which today's audiences can relate to: hating your job, loving someone who doesn't love you back, keeping a family together, and trying to make a better life for yourself.  

The play stars Barbara Garrick as Arkadina (B'way: A Thousand Clowns, Stanley; Off-B'way: Eight Days (Backwards); "Far from Heaven"), Maria Thayer as Nina (Endpapers, Eve Ensler's Necessary Targets; Tammi Littlenut in "Strangers with Candy"), Saxon Palmer as Trigorin (B'way: Design For Living, The Three Sisters; Off-B'way: You Never Can Tell), David Barlow as Konstantin (Smashing, Nijinsky in Romola and Nijinsky), Kelly Hutchinson as Masha (B'way: Major Barbara, Macbeth; Off-B'way: Romola in Romola and Nijinsky; "Strangers with Candy"), Linda Marie Larson as Paulina (B'way: Morning's at Seven, Jackie: An American Life), Jerry Matz as Sorin (B'way: Roza, Fiddler on the Roof, Ghetto), Curzon Dobell as Dorn (TFANA: Julius Caesar, Titus Andronicus, Henry VI), Garrett Neergaard as Medvedenko ("The Laramie Project"), David A. Green as Shamrayev (Nat'l Tour: Tartuffe, The Little Prince), Jeremy Feldman as Yakov, and Eric Alexander Hoffman as Luka.

Michael Barakiva directed the world premier of Wendy Wasserstein's Welcome To My Rash & Third at Theatre J in Washington DC. He is a two-time recipient of the David Merrick Prize in Drama, the Phil Killian Directing Fellow at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the Drama League Summer Directing Fellowship. Mr. Barakiva is a graduate of the Juilliard School as an Andrew W. Mellon Directing Fellow.

The rest of the artistic team includes Mimi Lien (Set Design), Oana Botez-Ban (Costume Design), Nick Francone (Lighting Design), Ryan Rumery (Original Music & Sound Design), Eliza Brown (Properties), and Andrea Ghersetich (Production Stage Manager).