Supplying the requisite notes of youthful ardor are Billy Howle, as Irina’s melancholy son, Konstantin, and Saoirse Ronan, as Nina, the young neighbor he tormentedly loves. Bening may be the straw that stirs this particular drink, but she is hardly the only marvel in a cast that includes Corey Stoll (as Irina’s lover, the celebrated writer Boris Trigorin), Brian Dennehy (as Sorin, Irina’s perpetually dying brother) and Elisabeth Moss (as the cynical and lovelorn Masha, daughter of the estate manager). Her brother’s country estate, where nearly all of the drama takes place, is a hive of shifting loyalty, jealousy and desire, dominated by Irina’s grand and difficult personality. Irina is charming and silly, imperious and intelligent, tough to the point of cruelty and also exquisitely sensitive. Bening can’t do, but one of the things she does best is play actresses - the title character in “Being Julia,” Gloria Grahame in “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” and now Chekhov’s diva of the late-19th-century Moscow stage. 'A mesmerizing, unforgettable experience' – britishtheatre.Watching Annette Bening as Irina Arkadina in “The Seagull,” Michael Mayer’s adaptation of the durable Anton Chekhov play, you might almost believe that the role was written with her in mind. Chekhov's characters are in the process of creating their lives or watching them fall apart, which, according to Butusov, may be a closely related activity. With the shuffling of actors' roles, you begin to sense something of a quadraphonic portrait of the creative personality, which demonstrates that greatness is precariously close to mediocrity while suggesting that the opposite is also true. This is not only a performance about the theatre, it is an anthology of the theatre that devours its children like monsters.

Yury Butusov's frenetic production abounds in an incredible freedom and openness, delving deep into the throes of artistic creation and the anguish of the artist who struggles to find a language of his own. Stage Russia HD (Satirikon Theatre): Anton Chekhov’s first of four major plays dramatizes the romantic and artistic conflicts between its four main characters: Boris Trigorin, a well-known writer, the ingenue Nina, the fading actress Irina Arkadina, and her son the would-be playwright Konstantin Tréplev. Satirikon Arkady Raikin Russian State Theatre

The seagull anton chekhov