A group of New York theater people retreat to a house in the Hudson Valley hoping to get away from it all. Except they can’t seem to escape the ambitions, rivalries and fragile egos that follow them everywhere. Chekhov’s sharp satirical eye for hypocrisy and self-absorption among well-meaning people is given fresh, fun emphasis as Thomas Bradshaw returns to The New Group with his contemporary reworking of a classic masterpiece. Directed by The New Group’s Founding Artistic Director Scott Elliott.
Despite their anchoring performances, The Seagull/Woodstock, NY doesn’t always soar but instead hovers at a pace that occasionally needs propulsion.
What arises out of all this is an unresolved tension between sending up the theater and revering it. Woodstock never strays too far from The Seagull, in plot or tone, poking at theatrical conventions, but never overthrowing them, on the way to dutifully reenacting the beats of tragedy. For all Bradshaw’s provocations in dialogue, I wondered if the plot could change a bit with the new era too. The play comes in throwing elbows, ready to épater la bourgeoisie, but ends up feeling rather respectful of and beholden to the classics.
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