The coming autumn: “The Seagull” thru Instrumental Thtr Co.
Ruby Gibson (L) and Levi Denton-Hughes. Photo by Mollie Menuck.
It’s a strong headwind into which Instrumental Theatre Company is walking with their inaugural production of Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”, and I don’t just say that because they stage the opening out-of-doors right by the lakefront.
With the looming reckonings facing both the subscription model and the non-profit-industrial complex, to say nothing of grants being tied up or snatched away, micro-scaled companies—arguably, the rich loam of Chicago’s theatrical scene—are entering a new world.
Happily—not the most Chekhovian adverb, but we’re sticking to it—Instrumental seems to be setting down roots in a sensible way, with a public-domain work tailored perfectly to the scale and talents of its ensemble and cleverly staged on municipal property. Nothing says “civic pride” quite like a jewel-box staging of this play in the Prairie-style living room of the mansion at Berger Park Cultural Center, as those who seek it out may learn.
Above all—and appropriately for this last gasp of summer—their “Seagull” is as warmly approachable as a campfire. There are certainly pitfalls inherent to the notion of a new theater company putting on a play about artists wringing their hands over their art, but the wryly comic prologue of such self-absorption is handled deftly, and even before retiring inside, between the laughs, something more disquieting begins to sink in. (Direction is by Skyler Grieco—perfectly invisible, even with all the logistics of moving an audience around.)
And, of course, there is music—it’s hardly an all-singing, all-dancing, all-kvetching adaptation, but the gentle folk strains (devised by the ensemble; music direction by Jack Morsovillo) complement the turbulent ruminations within the manse.
As the sorry wannabe scribbler Konstantin, the one exclamation point in a world of ellipses, Levi Denton-Hughes crackles with desperation, beating his head against the wall against what he sees as the “mid”-ness all around. Take the middle-aged and seemingly complacent, like his mother the actress Arkadina (Jennifer Mohr), who is in fact quite aware of the coming autumn of her years. Or take the thoroughly midlist talent that seems to abdicate the writer’s duty to seek higher peaks, like the novelist Trigorin (Ian Rigg), who is in fact as painfully aware of his limitations as much as Konstantin is of his own potential.
Taking all that into account, Konstantin’s making a present of a dead seagull to his unrequited love Nina (Ruby Gibson, winsomely—but not blithely—playing the youngest character) makes sense.
A brashly bold gesture within a quietly bold production. More’s the pity that it wraps fairly quickly. But may we all hope that Instrumental hangs around, blending the staryy and the novaya.
“The Seagull” runs through Sept. 27 at 6205 N. Sheridan Rd. For tickets or more information, please visit instrumentaltheatre.org.