Seagulls
by Volcano Theatre Companysite-specific-and-immersive, theatre
A lean, vigorous, playful, deconstructive adaptation of Chekhov's The Seagull. With a real lake.
about the production
Simply but ambitiously staged with striking design and lighting, Chekhov's 'rough stage by a lake' is reconstructed as a spare wooden structure and a part-flooded interior. Actors move partly by rope-access. Featuring music by The Clash, Arvo Pärt, Frank Sinatra and The Durutti Column.
about the artist
Volcano is an artist-led organisation (ACW portfolio company) that explores ideas and social relations through performance, viewing its audiences as active participants. Volcano is a physical theatre company at heart but with a focus on contemporary or re-imagined classic text and devised performance. We have been creating performance since 1988, and touring both in theatre venues and site-specific locations throughout the UK and Internationally, More recently, we have created an Art Haus in a series of disused buildings in our home town (Swansea) and at the Edinburgh Fringe 2017 (The Leith Volcano).
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stage dimensions
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Flexible non-traditional configuration for main stage/large studio.
May suit halls, basements etc.
Requires installation of lake and flying apparatus.
Audience seated around/within playing area.
Total area approx 200-300m².
People interested in fresh adaptations of classic drama.
Drama/performance student groups.
Festival audiences.
Volcano’s astonishing, visceral interpretation of Chekhov’s classic play captures the sense of disillusionment that pervades the text whilst offering a powerful, physically inventive adaptation of its key themes and ideas. The actors climb beams and walls, swing on ropes suspended from the ceiling, engage in wrestling matches and move around the space in a kinetic blur that makes one breathless just watching them, with a dazzling coup de théâtre that occurs midway through the action and opens the space up into completely new territory.
Not only is the design audacious and excitingly original but director Paul Davies has arranged the action in such a way that its full realisation only becomes clear to the audience in a stunning visual coup. If theatre is a place where players and musicians, choreographers and designers assemble to fuse sequences and images that matter, then that makes [Seagulls] total theatre.
Not a second passes without something to keep the audience transfixed. There is constant action, ranging emotions and a variety in the pace. Paul Davies’s direction is both dynamic and pacy. The production is completely strange and beautiful.
Wheelchair access.
Audio description/signed performance not currently available.
Workshops for drama students on devising/working with text/physical performance, on-site at touring venue or in colleges.
Group size 10-16 with one leader £300 plus VAT half-day, plus leader travel/accommodation expenses if outside tour schedule.
Post-show discussions free of charge by arrangement.
Install required - 3-5 days.
Minimum 1 week of performances. Fees negotiable. VAT chargeable on all fees.
