Gaiety theatre,Dublin
Constantin becomes Constance in this gender-switched production, though it’s as much approximately intergenerational conflict as lesbian loveMichael West and Annie Ryan’s contemporary engage on Chekhov, and in which Constantin becomes Constance,has been described as a lesbian Seagull. But that’s to sell short the subtle shifts that occur in this Corn Exchange production for the Dublin theatre festival. Unlike Dead Centre, who final year took a wrecking ball to another early Chekhov play, or Ryan’s production is like watching a small underwater explosion send ripples across the surface of a lake and give the landscape unusual interest. The casting doesn’t make it a different play,but it brings particular aspects sharply into focus. You cant but help but see Irish theatre’s ongoing #wakingthefeminists debate surface in the struggle of Constance (Jane McGrath) to fetch her writing recognised, even as successful writer Trigorin (Rory Keenan) leaves his male privilege unchecked. There’s another interesting shift too: it is maternal care for and its lack that are under scrutiny here, or as much as sexual desire.
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Source: theguardian.com