Kristin Scott Thomas will star on Broadway in her Olivier Award-winning role of Arkadina in the critically acclaimed Royal Court Theatre production of Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL. The production, featuring a new version by Christopher Hampton and directed by Ian Rickson, will open Wednesday, October 1 at the Walter Kerr Theatre (219 West 48th Street). Previews will begin Tuesday, September 16. The production will play a strictly limited engagement of 14 weeks through December 21.
The production will also star Peter Sarsgaard as Trigorin and members of the praised original Royal Court Theatre cast, including Mackenzie Crook as Konstantin, Art Malik as Dorn, Carey Mulligan as Nina, Pearce Quigley as Medvedenko, Peter Wight as Sorin, Christopher Patrick Nolan as Yakov and Mary Rose as the Maid. The production will also feature Zoe Kazan as Masha, with other casting to be confirmed.
Kristin Scott Thomas, who will make her Broadway debut, won the 2007 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Arkadina. She received an Academy Award nomination for her performance in The English Patient, and has also been seen in memorable roles in such films as Four Weddings and a Funeral, Gosford Park, Random Hearts, Life as a House, The Horse Whisperer and Angels and Insects, among many others. Recent films include The Other Boleyn Girl, The Walker and the upcoming I've Loved You So Long, Easy Virtue and Confessions of a Shopaholic.
Peter Sarsgaard will make his Broadway debut as Trigorin. An award-winning stage and film actor, Sarsgaard made his screen debut in Dead Man Walking, going on to acclaimed roles in Kinsey, Shattered Glass (National Society of Film Critics Award), Garden State and Boys Don't Cry among others. He trained at Actor's Studio and appeared Off-Broadway in Signature Theatre's productions of Burn This and Laura Dennis and Drama Dept.'s Kingdom of Earth. His recent films include Rendition, The Dying Gaul, Jarhead, The Skeleton Key, Flightplan, Year of the Dog and the upcoming In the Electric Mist, Orphan, Elegy, An Education and The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Mackenzie Crook, who will repeat his Royal Court Theatre role of Konstantin, shot to fame with his iconic performance as Gareth Keenan in the original UK version of "The Office." His film performances include the comic role of Ragetti in the blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, as well as The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino, The Brothers Grimm and Finding Neverland. He will be seen in the upcoming films, Abraham's Point, Solomon Kane, City of Ember and the TV series, "Little Dorrit".
Zoe Kazan, who joins the cast as Masha, made her Broadway debut last season in Come Back, Little Sheba, and appeared Off-Broadway in Things We Want, Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and 100 Saints You Should Know. Her film credits include The Savages, Fracture, In The Valley of Elah and August and the upcoming Revolutionary Road, Me and Orson Welles and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee.
Art Malik, who will reprise his Royal Court Theatre role of Dorn, has appeared in the West End in Art, Indian Ink, on tour in Heroes, with the RSC in Othello, The Government Inspector and Romeo and Juliet for the Old Vic, and The Comedians at Leicester, among his many other theatre credits. His numerous film appearances include roles in City of Joy, True Lies, The Living Daylights and A Passage to India. Selected TV includes "The Jewel in the Crown," "The Far Pavilions," "Colour Blind," "Messiah," "Messiah 2," and "Holby City"
Carey Mulligan, who will return to the role of Nina, which she played at the Royal Court Theatre, starred in the film version of Pride and Prejudice, opposite Keira Knightley and Judi Dench, and the BBC adaptation of "Bleak House," as well as "Dr. Who," "Waking the Dead" and "The Amazing Mrs. Pritchard". She can be seen in the current film, When Did You Last See Your Father? and the upcoming An Education, Brothers and Public Enemies.
Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL, written in 1895 and the first of the playwright's masterworks, concerns the romantic entanglements and regrets of a group of actors, writers and artists gathered on a Russian estate. One of the theatre's great plays about writing, THE SEAGULL conveys the struggle for new forms and the frustrations and fulfillment of putting words on a page.
Director Ian Rickson originally staged THE SEAGULL as his farewell to the Royal Court Theatre, when he ended his seven-year tenure as the distinguished theatre's Artistic Director. The limited run became a sold out smash hit and the biggest selling production in the Royal Court's 50 year history.
Ben Brantley, The New York Times, wrote, "The marvel of Ian Rickson's rapturous interpretation of THE SEAGULL, which quickly became a must-have and largely unhaveable ticket, is how seamlessly it captures the vital paradox that so often escapes productions of this masterwork: the bursting theatrical fullness to be found in its unfulfilled lives. Kristin Scott Thomas is in expert form. Productions like Mr. Rickson's The Seagull are such rarities that it hardly seems fair to measure others against them."
John Lahr, The New Yorker, pronounced it "the finest British production of Chekhov in recent memory with a pitch-perfect cast, elegant staging and the clarity and cunning of Christopher Hampton's adaptation."
David Benedict, Variety, praised THE SEAGULL as "a bold, supremely truthful production. Chekhov's plays live on a knife edge routinely described as 'tragic-comic.' Most productions, however, topple over into either doomy tragedy or overly fierce comedy. The exhilaration of Rickson's balancing act is evident from the very opening."
THE SEAGULL is designed by Hildegard Bechtler, with lighting by Peter Mumford, sound by Ian Dickinson and music by Stephen Warbeck.
Kristin Scott Thomas, Mackenzie Crook, Art Malik, Carey Mulligan, Christopher Patrick Nolan, Pearce Quigley, Mary Rose and Peter Wight are appearing with the permission of Actors' Equity Association. The producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance to this production.
Performances will be Tuesday through Saturday at 8:00 PM, with matinees Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 3:00 PM. There will be an added performance on Sunday, October 5 at 8:00 PM. Ticket information for THE SEAGULL will be announced in coming weeks.
