Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull"

HI GUYS.

IT'S SHANNON AGAIN.

Okay, I promise I won't type this whole blog like that... Or something.

It's the first week! And we're gonna start off by pulling out the big guns:

Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull"

This play is up there in the canon of "Best Plays Ever" and Nina, the young ingenue whose monologue we will be posting, is one of the most iconic roles for young actresses in existence. So be warned when taking on this monologue -- everyone has seen it, everyone has done it, and everyone has opinions.

Which makes it the perfect place for us to start.

The play itself centers around the story of Konstantin "Kostya" Gavrilovich Treplev, a young writer living in the Russian countryside on an estate next to a lake. At the opening of the story, Konstantin has written a play starring his beloved, Nina: a girl from the estate next door whose parents have forbidden her love of acting. Konstantin's mother, the famous actress Arkadina, is in attendance, as is her boyfriend Trigorin, a writer whose fame precedes him. Nina, meeting Trigorin, falls in love with him and begs him to take him with her when he leaves the estate. Despite his continued relationship with Arkadina and Konstantin's violent jealousy (Konstantin challenges Trigorin to a duel and then attempts to kill himself when denied), Trigorin engages Nina and calls her with him to Moscow. Nina follows, but soon finds herself abandoned by both him and her fledgling acting career. A year (or two) later, Arkadina, with Trigorin still in tow, returns to the estate. A broken Nina follows surreptitiously behind and encounters Konstantin in his study. He asks her to stay with him, as he still loves her. She, still desperately in love with the man who has destroyed her life, refuses. Konstantin, distraught, kills himself. It's a comedy.

There are several characters not mentioned here: Masha, who's in love with Konstantin. Medvedenko, who's in love with Masha (eventually she marries him). Sorin, Konstantin's uncle who owns the estate. Dorn, the doctor who's sleeping with Paulina, who’s Masha’s mother and wife of the estate manager, Shamrayev. And Yakov, who’s the hired man.

OH. And there's that bit about, you know...

The Seagull.

Konstantin, in desperation after Nina stops loving him in favor of Trigorin (which Konstantin attributes to the failure of his play), shoots a seagull and lays it at her feet. Trigorin, encountering the seagull, has an “Idea for a short story:" a girl is ‘happy and free as a seagull. Then a man comes along, sees her, and ruins her life because he has nothing better to do. Destroys her like this seagull here.” (meta, right?) The incident roots itself into Nina's mind and manifests in this monologue. The plight of the seagull Nina sees as her own plight. Because… well, it is.

Important note: That was a highly reductive summary, and though it kind of gets the point across, please know that if you plan to work on this piece (or anything Chekhov has written… or anything at all really), it’s pretty crucial to have read the play. Reading the play, you’ll pick up on details and nuances that I’ve skimmed over, or find things in the context that will inform your performance.

Other important note: There are lots of translations of this text. The one I'm using for this is "The gold standard in Russian-English translation"/the one that they told me to use when I was in drama school at NYU: the new translation by Paul Schmidt. It's only available in a collection with several of Chekhov's other plays, but it's worth it. He avoids a lot of the "no one SAYS that" moments and modernizes the language a bit. I'm a fan.

Now.

On to the monologue itself!

The key to this monologue is that it's done how we speak: Chekhov is pretty much the father of realism. Characters in his plays are known to use conversations about maps to subtextually make plans to run away together, and confront each other using the weather. It's intense. It can make reading the text difficult, because (she cries) can kind of land on you out of nowhere if you're not paying attention. So when you’re looking at the text, really focus on what lives underneath it.

Nina, at this point in the play, is in a state. She's just come off an unsuccessful acting tour, her parents have disowned her, and she’s been walking the countryside in a heavy Russian summer storm. *I* think she believes Trigorin is in the house before she's entered (Arkadina is there and Nina knows they're still together), but just before this piece, she's heard his voice for probably the first time since he left her. She's starting to lose it.

So without further ado, HERE is Nina’s monologue from The Seagull, performed by both myself and my buddy Eileen. Eileen and I are very different and appropriately have different interpretations of the text. The amazing thing about great plays like this is that the text can substantiate varying interpretations. It’s super cool.

It's Eileen!

And now it's me!

NINA: Why did you say you kissed the ground I walked on? You should have killed me instead. (leans on the table) I’m so tired! I want to rest, I just want to rest! (raises her head) I’m the seagull… no that’s not it. I’m an actress. That’s it.

(From the other room we hear Arkadina and Trigorin laughing. Nina listens for a minute, goes to the left door, and looks through the keyhole)

He’s here too. (Crosses to Konstantin) He is, isn’t he? Well, nevermind. He never believed in the theatre, he laughed at all my dreams, and little by little I stopped believing in it, too. And then all the emotional stress, the jealousy; I was always afraid for the baby… I started getting petty, depressed, my acting was emptier and emptier… I didn’t know what to do with my hands, I didn’t know how to hold myself onstage, I couldn’t control my voice. You don’t know what that’s like, to realize you’re a terrible actor. I’m the seagull… No, that’s not it… Remember that seagull you shot? A man comes along, sees her, and destroys her life because he has nothing better to do…. subject for a short story, No, that’s not it…. (rubs her forehead) What was I saying? Oh yes, the theatre. I’m not like that anymore. I’m a real actress now, I enjoy acting, I’m proud of it, the stage intoxicates me, When I’m up there I feel beautiful. And these days, being back here, walking for hours on end, thinking and thinking, I could feel my soul growing stronger day after day. And now I know, Kostya, I understand, finally, that in our business -- acting, writing, it makes no difference -- the main thing isn’t being famous, it’s not the sound of applause, it’s not what I dreamed it was. All it is is the strength to keep going, no matter what happens. You have to keep on believing. I believe, and it helps. And now, when I think about my vocation, I’m not afraid of life.

(KONSTANTIN: I don’t believe, and I don’t know what my vocation is. You’ve found your way in life, you know where you’re heading, but I just go on drifting through a chaos of images and dreams, I don’t know what my work is good for, or who needs it.)

NINA: (listens) Shh… I’d better go. Goodbye. When I become a great actress, come watch me act, won’t you? Promise. It’s late. (takes his hand) I can barely stand. I’m so tired, I’m so hungry.

(KONSTANTIN: Then stay. I’ll get you something to eat.)

NINA: No, no I can’t.) No, don’t come with me, I can go by myself; it’s not far to where the carriage is…. So she brought him with her didn’t she? oh, well, what difference does it make? When you see Trigorin, don’t say anything about this…. I love him. I love him even more than before. Subject for a short story. I love him, I love him, I love him to despair. Things were so lovely back then, Kostya, weren’t they? Remember? We thought life was bright, shining, joyful, and our feelings were delicate flowers. Remember? (recites) “Human beings, lions, eagles, qual… you horned deer, you wild geese, you spiders and you wordless fish who swim beneath the wave… starfish, stars in heaven so distant the human eye cannot perceive them, all living things, all, all, all …. all living things have ended their allotted rounds and are no more…. (for more than a thousand centuries the earth has been lifeless, no single living creature yet remains… and the weary moon in heaven lights her lamp in vain. The cranes in the meadows awake no more, their cries are silent; the flight of beetles in the linden woods is stilled….” (embraces Konstantin suddenly, then runs out through the French doors).)

Alright, that’s it! Again, there are lots and lots (and lots and lots and lots) of ways to interpret Chekhov’s masterpiece. So take it on! Make it your own!

And know that we would love to see your work. If you use this piece, we’d love to see it! Comment below with any thoughts you might have (did I forget something in the summary? what’s your favorite part of the play? would you cut the monologue itself differently?), or better yet, a link to you doing the monologue! That would actually make my day.

Just... don’t do it for an audition.

And welcome to

SOMEONE MONO-BLOGGING

AGAIN,

I’M SHANNON.

ENJOY!