What I liked
From top to bottom, the actors move seamlessly through well-organized, small-space blocking and an array of moods and emotional states. You don’t have to know The Seagull to love this play. But… if you DO know The Seagull, then many moments will take on a special life.
James Carter Montgomery does a wonderful job in making Treplev charming and likable…while still suffering for his art and from his love. It can be easy to let that character become insufferable, but Montgomery never does. His work in #19 (I think?) when he swaps places with Nina was particularly good.
Natalie Valentine makes a feast of Nina; reveling in the humor of the play, while careening from coquettishness, to weariness, to defiance, to madness. There is a truth she carries from variation to variation that grounded the entire show, while she simultaneously holds a prism up to Chekhov’s marvelous character.
The projections, lighting, and sound we well-integrated in a way that got their job done without distracting from the real centerpiece — two fantastic performances of a great script.
What I didn't like
There were precisely two things that I didn’t find wonderful about this performance, both so minimal that they’re not worth calling attention to. THAT is how good this play was.
The thing that could be improved is not asking this question, which forces reviewer to stretch for negative things to say about something as great as The Nina Variations.
My overall impression
A smart, moving, and humorous riff on Chekhov’s classic; smoothly directed and wonderfully acted by the amiable James Carter Montgomery and spellbinding Natalie Valentine.
