Seagull: True Story at Marylebone Theatre – review

In 2022, Russian director Alexander Molochnikov was working on Chekhov’s The Seagull and enjoying professional success in Moscow. But his decision to speak out publicly against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine meant his artistic work was cancelled and he was branded a “disloyal artist.”

He fled to New York, where he developed Seagull: True Story, now showing at London’s Marylebone Theatre. Molochnikov uses both Chekhov’s play and his own experiences to follow Kon, a young director who is preparing his own progressive version of The Seagull when Putin announces his “special military operation”.

In an increasingly meta twist, rehearsals crumble as the cast is split between support and condemnation of the war and Kon’s artistic vision is stripped away by the Ministry of Culture. He leaves for America, trying to stage his play with his avant-garde housemates. Simultaneously, his mother beds down in Moscow, insisting that Russia will welcome him back with open arms, while other artists are beaten and jailed.

The play is very much an ensemble piece, with most actors multi-roling with huge energy. Daniel Boyd is a sensitive and increasingly disillusioned Kon, who has convincing chemistry with Stella Baker as a charming Nico, Kon’s American girlfriend.

Elan Zafir is touchingly resigned as Anton, Kon’s old dramaturg, who also speaks out against the war. He is contained and reflective as he writes movingly to Kon from his new home: a Russian gulag.

As MC, Andrey Burkovskiy delivers a standout performance, narrating events and stepping into several other roles, including a bare-chested Putin who appears on horseback. Burkovskiy is very funny, repeatedly telling us that everything is “fantastic.” Until it isn’t.

Along with writer Eli Rarey, Molochnikov indicates that Trump’s America is not a liberal utopia; one actor argues that Konstantin’s threats to die by suicide are “triggering” and dismisses Chekov as a “dead white male”. In America, Kon is also forced into compromise, reluctantly taking on work on an immersive version of The Three Little Pigs. There’s a hint of whether escaping an authoritarian state means freedom or another type of restriction, but Trump’s war on woke is ripe for further skewering in the production.

Absurdist comedy, satirical political commentary and autobiographical drama combine with themes of freedom, nepotism, artistic expression, literature and censorship. There are snowball fights with Lenin; expressive dancing on the subway and a fever dream of a techno club night with Putin.

The issue is that Molochnikov barely gives us time to consider these huge topics, propelling the production along at such a rapid pace that little impacts as much as it should. There are so many tangents that the satire loses its bite.

Alexander Shishkin’s stripped-down design consists of multiple sheets of opaque plastic, an air mattress, and a bathtub on castors. There is also a lot of symbolic red in Kristina Kharlashkina’s costumes and Brian H Scott and Sam Saliba’s lighting.

Music plays an important role, with Russian folk songs merging with techno club anthems. Musician Shukhrat Turdikhodjev is excellent, but Diego Las Heras’s often-pounding sound design occasionally overwhelms the cast.

Seagull: True Story boldly contains many elements for a sharply acidic commentary on the true nature of artistic freedom. It just needs a little more focus to really take flight.