In the good old days we used to see great productions brought by the erstwhile Soviet Union quite frequently to India. Some of the productions like “Shakuntala” in the Western ballet style cast a spell on the audience. Presented by the Stanislavski and Nemirovich-Danchenko Academic Musical Theatre, Moscow, with artistic collaboration by the late Maya Rao, India’s eminent Kathak exponent, the Sanskrit classic by Kalidasa was featured: it was an indicator of Soviet Union's great admiration for Indian art and culture. We had seen Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” under the direction of legendary Russian director Georg Tovstonogov which projected visual imagery showing us what after all was “Chekhovian Mood” on the stage. Thanks to the organisers of Bharat Rang Mahotsav we saw Chekhov’s “Seagull” which was presented by Chekhov Studio Theatre, Russia on the National School of Drama lawns this past week.
Adhering to fidelity to the original, director Vladimir Baicher adopted a highly ingenious style to extend the time and space of the play to the present . The action takes place in three different locales with the final act being shifted to the indoor. The production attracted a large number of the discerning audience of the Capital who love to watch the enduring charm of Chekhov, one of the greatest playwrights of the world. The language is Russian and at places dialogues are rendered in English but we know the theme of the play because it has been appearing in Hindi version frequently directed by veteran and amateur directors with varying success.
The play opens in a country estate. One by one, the characters enter the scene. Here is a lake and a makeshift stage. The main characters are Irina Arkadina, a successful actress, Konstantin, her son, Nina, the daughter of a wealthy landowner who aspires to become a great actress, Trigorin, a popular writer. Most of them craving for success as creative persons and most of them suffer from the bitter pain of unrequited love. The central to the tragedy is the relationship between Nina and Konstantin who is neglected by his mother Arkadina. A highly sensitive artist, Konstantin is in deep love with Nina who is his soul. His mother lives in Moscow with his friend writer Trigorin. As theme develops Nina falls passionately in love with the writer Trigorin, goes to Moscow, stays with him. She realizes that her decision to live with the writer has ruined her life, but the realisation has come very late. The last scene is set in the museum of Chekhov where costumes and properties used in the previous productions of Chekhov's plays are on display. The characters are turned into workers of the museum and almost imperceptibly they assume their original form. All of a sudden Nina appears in the room of Konstantin. With the passage of time Nina has becomes an actress and Konstantin a writer. In the surreal like atmosphere which is tense both open their hearts to one another. Nina cries bitterly. But Nina does not accept Konstantin's earnest please to stay with him.
She says, “I love him (Trigorin) even more than before...I love him, passionately, desperately” and leaves in a huff. A broken hearted Konstantin painfully realizes that he has no reason to live any more.
The director has used different presentational styles from realism to naturalism which is reflected in the sequence in which a young woman comes riding on a horse with great impetuosity. In another naturalistic sequence the actress and her writer friend leave for the station on a horse-drawn coach which is aesthetically decorated and is driven by a coachman. These vivid sequences thrilled the audience.
In a subtle way, the production reveals the struggle of creative people, their capacity to endure sufferings and their duty towards their people and country – these ideas are intricately woven into the structure of the production.
Natalia Belyaeva as Arkadina, Polina Eliseeva as Nina, Sergey Fatyanov as Trigorin and Ivan Kozhevnikov as Konstantin truly live the tumultuous lives of their characters. The delicate portraits they create on the stage exuding sad and melancholic feelings will continue to linger in the minds of the audience for long.
