REVIEW: The Seagull (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh)

The Seagull - ★★★★☆ - Lush

Royal Lyceum Edinburgh
9 Oct – 1 Nov
Review by Rebecca Mahar
 
The Lyceum presents a new adaptation of Anton Chekov’s The Seagull in a lush production running through 1 November
 
Originally written in 1895, Anton Chekov’s The Seagull is widely considered one of the seminal plays of modernism, realism, and naturalism in European drama. This new adaptation by Mike Poulton is directed by James Brining in his first outing as Artistic Director of the Lyceum, and together with a phenomenal cast and creative team, they have created a Seagull which strives to embrace both its roots and its Scottish habitat.

The company of The Seagull. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.

 
On the lakeside country estate of elderly Pyotr Sorin (John Bett), guests assemble to watch a new play by Sorin’s nephew Konstantin Treplev (Lorn Macdonald), starring Nina Zarechnaya (Harmony Rose-Bremner), who lives across the lake and is romantically entangled with Konstantin. Konstantin’s mother, Irina Akadina (Caroline Quentin), a famous actress, arrives along with her much-younger lover, the writer Boris Trigorin (Dyfan Dwyfor). After ridicule by Irina and others during the performance, Konstantin ends the play prematurely, and the party breaks up.
 
This extended initial scene, the first of four acts of the play, sets up the essential conflicts, relationships, and several love triangles of the play. Through the following three acts, the interpersonal machinations of the characters drive the play: who is successful, who is not, who is in love with whom, what are the consequences of choices made in love and marriage, and what, in the end is the point of it all?

Harmony Rose-Bremner as Nina. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.

Performances are of an unequivocally high standard across the company, with particular standouts in Rose-Bremner as Nina, Forbes Masson as Dr. Yevgeny Dorn, and Kristian Lustre as Sorin’s servant Yakov. Lustre is a testament to the old chestnut that there are no small parts: although Yakov’s lines are few, Lustre moves through the play with an exquisite attention to detail, an observer to the upper-class chaos, and his reaction to the story’s final dramatic turn is a heartbreaking end to the play.
 
Quentin’s Irina is a casually dominating figure, vacillating between overbearing criticism and seemingly genuine self-reproach when it comes to Konstantin, who is given sympathetic sincerity by Macdonald. One of Quentin’s best moments, however, comes when Trigorin attempts to split from Irina: in the confrontation that follows, Quentin gives a masterclass in manipulation, while allowing shades of Irina’s own desperate need for validation to slip through. Meanwhile Dwyfor shows the first cracks in Trigorin’s sleek, confident exterior at this assault, foreshadowing his ultimate fecklessness.

Caroline Quentin as Irina and Dyfan Dwyfor as Trigorin. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.

Brining’s direction is generally sharp and incisive, though in the first two acts it leans a little towards self-consciousness. Here the pauses are a bit too long, the laughs a bit too deliberately played for, the style slips a little too much towards farce. The decision to have Nina (and later Konstantin) directly address the audience feels out of place, not sufficiently integrated into the stylistic fabric of the production. The bumpy moments of the first half smooth out as the play goes on, and are balanced by stunningly choreographed scene changes, sweeping the play from one location to another as part of the art of the piece.
 
The visual world of the play is a stunning achievement. Set design from Colin Richmond and Anna Kelsey, lighting design from Lizzie Powell, and costume design from Madeleine Boyd and Anna Kelsey unite to produce an intricate, many-layered feast for the eyes. Rounded out by music and sound design from Michael John McCarthy, the design elements of this Seagull are essential to its success, neither overpowering nor taking a back seat to the performances they host.

The company of The Seagull. Pic: Mihaela Bodlovic.

The Seagull is a classic for many reasons, and this production demonstrates that it still has things to say, with Poulton’s adaptation shaking fresh relevancy from Chekov’s subtextual oeuvre. As a debut under his Artistic Direction, Brining can safely claim success with this Seagull, bringing a classic work to life with unpretentious depth.
 
Running time: Two hours and thirty minutes with one interval
Venue: Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, 30b Grindlay St EH3 9AX
9 October – 1 November 2025
Time: 7:30pm, Wed/Sat matinees 2:30pm
Access performances: 16^th & 31^st Oct Captioned, 18^th (2:30pm) & 22^nd (7:30pm) Audio described, touch tour; 25^th(7:30pm) BSL interpreted
Special events: Post-show talk on 21 Oct
Tickets: https://lyceum.org.uk/whats-on