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A Man For All Seasons: Seagull True Story - Marylebone Theatre

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It's not often that you see a play that tells you not so much a story but gives you a sense of how it feels to be in a situation, how it feels to be silenced, how it feels to be marginalised, how the dead hand of consensus stifles your creativity. However, in Seagull True Story, created and directed by Alexander Molochnikov and based on his own experiences fleeing Russia and trying to establish himself in New York, we have a chance to look beyond the headlines and understand how the war in Ukraine impacted a a group of ordinary creatives in Russia. And how the gradual smothering of freedom and freedom of expression becomes impossible to resist, except for the brave or the suicidal. Against the backdrop of Chekhov's The Seagull, which explores love and other forms of disappointment, it presents a gripping and enthralling depiction of freedom of expression in the face of adversity. After playing earlier this year in New York, it plays a limited run at the Marylebone Theatre . Fro...

Theatre: Eurydice

Vox Pops Dr 3 F9 480p (16x9) from David Newell on Vimeo.


Eurydice takes greek mythology and gives it a twist focusing on the loss, memory and redemption in this production at the Young Vic. Maybe all this death and loos has been putting people off from seeing it as Saturday night's audience could have been larger. The play itself is not bad at all and full of mildly surreal scenarios with water that can leave a lot to your imagination.

The play opens with Eurydice and Orpheus about to go for a swim and then off to get married. Meanwhile her father is writing letters of advice to her for her wedding to her but she is not getting them. On her wedding night she leaves the party lured away by a man who says he has one of his letters... Soon she is in the underworld and Orpheus is trying to get in touch with her... One of the problems with this play is that there is no sense about how much Eurydice and Orpheus like each other... Sure they are practically naked with swimming goggles at the start, but you get the impression Orpheus is Mr Right Now rather than Mr Right. Eurydice seems ambivalent and Orpheus seems more interested in his music...

Still, the focus of this play seems more about memory and loss and the scenes in the underworld are great, including a young boy on a tricycle and three actors playing stones who manage to speak in unison throughout. And at 80 minutes long (with no interval) this was a whimsical enough diversion for the evening... Go for the meditation on memory... The relationships probably won't entice you as much... It runs until 5 June before touring and discounts are available (including through facebook)

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