It’s one of the best bargains in town. Through Saturday, UC San Diego stages a lovely production of Anton Chekhov’s 1896 romantic tragedy, “The Seagull,” beautifully realized by third-year MFA student Tom Dugdale. The artistic team, also students, does a magnificent job with the setting (Colin McGurk), costumes (Christine Crook), lighting (James Tan) and sound (David Corsello). Dugdale’s production features a fine crop of MFA actors, a topsy-turvy world in a setting redolent of the play-within-a-play depicted in Ruggero Leoncavallo’s 1892 Italian countryside verismo opera, “I Pagliacci,” based on a play written in 1887. “The Seagull” is set at a lakeshore estate in the Russian countryside, where the frail land holder, Sorin, is tended by the melancholy physician, Dorn. Sorin has welcomed his sister, Arkadina, a famous actress in Moscow, and her much younger lover, the celebrated playwright, Trigorin. Arkadina’s high-strung son, an aspiring playwright named Konstantin, lives at the estate and presents his first play on a wooden, outdoor stage strung with lights. Konstantin’s avant-garde work stars Nina, daughter of the estate holder across the lake. Konstantin loves Nina unrequitedly. Masha, who is daughter of overseer Shamrayev and his wife, Paulina, loves Konstantin, She, too, has theatrical ambitions. A schoolteacher named Medvedenko woos Masha. Though Konstantin aborts the performance — his mother and Trigorin laugh inappropriately — Nina falls in love with Trigorin, setting up yet another love triangle. Ultimately, Nina follows Arkadina and Trigorin to Moscow, where he begets a child on her, then spurns her, proving he was simply bored and she was a convenient plaything and ego booster. As is usual in Chekhov’s works, everyone longs for what he/she cannot capture and keep: Masha for Konstantin; Medvedenko for Masha; Konstantin for Nina, his mother’s love and literary success; Nina for Trigorin; Paulina for Dorn; and Arkadina for Trigorin and her lost youth. Zoë Chao does a grand job as Nina, capturing the innocent girl’s vulnerability and longing. Patrick Riley is an adorable, needy Konstantin, whom he plays as more callow than deeply disturbed. Strong yet petulant, Cate Campbell takes on Arkadina, a difficult challenge indeed for one so young. Gabriel Lawrence captures the charisma and magnetism of Trigorin without overtly telegraphing his crass nature. Dugdale stages Trigorin and Nina’s love scenes with intensity and a sense of iconic imagery. Dugdale’s staging causes the viewer to ponder staginess versus reality. The work is produced in the Mandell Weiss Forum, with the audience entering at ground level, then seated stadium style, similar to the arrangement in the Potiker Theatre. The floor-to-ceiling seating that provides backdrop is draped with yards and yards of white muslin, and the actual playing area consists of the platform and surrounding empty space, which allows the large ensemble easy ingress and egress from the sides, voms and the aisles. To underscore the idea that all are merely players, and to frame and enhance the tragedy, David Corsello, Daniel Rubiano and the company devised original music. Dugdale provided the songs. Remaining performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday only, Feb. 25 to 27, at the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, UCSD Theatre District, La Jolla Playhouse. For tickets ($15-$20), visit http://theatre.ucsd.edu/season or call (858) 534-4574.
