Adult Film to Present World Premiere Translation Of SEA GULL By John Christopher Jones
Running from May 10-26 at Rutgers Presbyterian Church, the play features a cast of working-class artists led by director Ryan Czerwonko.
Adult Film, a Brooklyn-based theatre company, film studio, and actor training center, will be presenting Sea Gull, a new version of Anton Chekhov's play at Rutgers Presbyterian Church for a limited run in the Upper West Side. Previews are May 8 and 9, with performances running May 10-26.
AF artistic director Ryan Czerwonko will be directing and playing Konstantin. The cast features Mia Vallet as Nina, Megan Metrikin as Arkadina, Christian Ryan as Trigorin, Lauren Guglielmello as Masha, Simon Fortin as Sorin, Ira Gamerman as Medvedenko, Christopher Jon Martin as Dorn, Ellie Mae Miller as Paulina, and Peter Rinaldi as Shamrayev, with Rob Riordan understudying.
AF is a group of working class artists that set out in May 2023 with a mission to work on the play for one whole year, seemingly an impossible task in our fragmented hypermodern moment, while recording the process as part of a feature film documentary. With a focus on the show as a laboratory for the art of acting, using the play that changed acting forever, the performances will be a semi-immersive blend of both theatre and film, the two mediums the actor straddles. The piece is rooted in an exciting new translation by John Christopher Jones, whose Cherry Orchard was featured in the Chekhov Cycle at Classic Stage. Since beginning the process, multiple Vanya productions have sprung up, and AF is thrilled to be part of the conversation in this wave of a Chekhovian Renaissance that has struck NYC.
Inspired by the giants of the past, with Andre Gregory and Nikos Psacharopoulos' work at
Williamstown as major influences, this production brings NYC today into sharp focus, asking
who really is an artist? Who gets to make theatre here? Who is kept out of it? What is art itself?
With film/video by Meg Case and Brad Porter, Assistant Director: Matt Street, Stage Manager: Ethan Navarro. Produced by Ryan Czerwonko, Mia Vallet, Meg Case, Brad Porter, and Adult Film.
Previews are May 8 and 9 for $15 plus ticketing fees, Performances are May 10-26 for $25 plus ticketing fees at 276 W. 73rd St, New York, NY.
