The Seagull - Auditions for Actors

Auditions for Actors –

The Seagull

Intro

     ‘The Seagull’ was written by Anton Chekhov in 1895, and was first performed on stage at Petersburg in 1896.  ‘The Seagull’ takes place at a Russian estate, and tells the stories of various characters that live the lives of wealth, power and fame.  The play explores the struggles and misfortunes that come with having everything you wanted, but not finding happiness.

     The character I will be performing as is:

Name:                        Konstantin Gavrilovich Treplev

Age:                            25

Relationships:           Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina (mother)

                                    Boris Alexeyevich Trigorin (mother’s lover)   

                                    Sorin (uncle)

                                    Yevgeny Sergeyevich Dorn (doctor)

                                    Nina Mikhailovna Zarechnaya (admirer)

                                    Masha (admirer)

Likes:                         Writing

Dislikes:                     His mother’s fame

                                    Being ignored.

     What transpires during the monologue?  The scene is moment of silence for a few of the lead characters, and a chance for the audience to absorb more of the leads back stories; particularly Konstantin’s history with his mother.  Konstantin, and his uncle Sorin, talk about their relationships with Irina.  We establish that Sorin and Irina, as brother and sister, get along rather well and know each other’s personalities.  Whereas Konstantin and Irina, as mother and son, do not get along. 

     Konstantin’s key role in ‘The Seagull’ is he has written a unique play that he wishes to bring to life.  Sorin hosts his estate to perform the play, and his mother Irina is performing in the play.  However because he lives in the shadow of his mother’s fame, he is constantly being told he needs to change various details/writing styles, or to listen to the professionals, he becomes frustrated and feels the need to escape this life.

     The monologue explores:

-          His admiration for his mother

-          His hatred for his mother’s fame

-          His distaste for the current state of theatre

-          and His desire to be something unique.

Themes of the Play

Love – Deduced from the lack of “true” love between the lead characters.  The mother and son relationship (between Konstantin and Irina) is less than stellar.  The relationships between the lead and his two admirers (between Konstantin, and Nina and Masha) are a mix of desire and uncertainty (as Nina misleads Konstantin just to get closer to Irina and Boris, and Masha is tormented by her uncertain feelings towards Konstantin).  All enhancing the inevitable tragedy that the play concludes on.

Lust – Deduced from certain character motivations; shown particularly in our lead’s objectives.  Konstantin desires to achieve a big name for himself in the world of writing.  Irina wishes to achieve more and more out of her fame and fortune.  Boris becomes enchanted by Nina’s beauty and seduction.  Nina, alternatively, misleads Konstantin into thinking she loves him, when in truth, she desires to get closer to Irina to become a famous actress and to steal the heart of Boris.  All conflicting and contrasting to Konstantin himself.

Backfiring – The inevitable tragedy that ends the play is Konstantin committing suicide.  The play explores backfiring as a theme demonstrating to the audience that words and actions can have a devastating effect.  This is shown through Konstantin’s progressive journey with more and more disappointing acts towards him, leading him to a permanent end.  Enhancing the moral of: “think before you act”.

Connections

     To both a contemporary audience, and myself, there are various elements within the monologue and the characterisation where a modern audience member, like myself, can relate.  Elements that I feel are the more relatable list from:

-          The desire to be noticed

-          The desire to be accepted

-          and The desire to be appreciated.

     These three elements in particular are what I aim to reflect within my vocal and physical performance of Konstantin.  This is a character I can relate to, and I feel a contemporary audience would feel sympathy for him and embrace the tragedy when he falls to the brutal end.


 

     Why did I choose this monologue?

     I have previously performed this monologue to achieve my LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts) Silver Certificate, so I had few background experiences with the speech.  Although the texted version I used was suited for GCSE performance level, whereas this version of the monologue is written in classical Chekhov text.  Therefore I chose this monologue piece, out of familiarity, plus the opportunity to test my vocal performance adaptability by performing in Chekhov’s original writing style.   

Performance Style

Physically – the current state of Konstantin in this monologue shows deep frustration and disapproval as he boast about his mother’s career and lack of commitment as a mother.  Therefore in my physical performance I shall incorporate both emotions to allow the audience to see and empathise with the character’s disappointed state, and foreshadow his future within the play.  How do I aim to show this?

     Sitting; having a posture where my eyes are locked onto the floor and slouching, when sat down, I feel, almost exaggerates the character’s emotional state, but works for this monologue piece.

     Standing; maintaining a upright posture to indicate a sophisticated and polite upbringing, I will also exaggerate pacing to show emotional state.  I will support the pacing with harsh foot stomps and strong stature to further encourage the character’s desire to escape. 

     Plus I will use gestures in select moments; cued by words such as “theatre”, “love” and “mother”, mainly to show his disapproval and distaste for such words and subjects.    

Vocally – similarly to my physical performance, I aim to transcend to the audience that the character is frustrated and disapproves of his current state of living, all transcended vocally. 

     Looking particularly to the character’s origins and state of wellbeing, I know he has received a decent education and is an established author aiming to devise new forms of art.  Therefore I want to incorporate clear diction and articulation to show that the character knows what he is talking about.  Also including a sharp tone to emphasis his frustration.

     Plus with select words such as “humanity”, “depicting”, “tritest”, “vulgarity”, “fatuous” and “fatiguing” shows he has a strong range of vocabulary to further support his understanding of the English language.  Also demonstrating to himself that he is capable of making himself seem strong vocally and enhancing a theme of ‘Standing up for Yourself’.

Inspirations – when looking for inspiration to perform as this character I looked to two characters, from two different forms of literature, for support to get a better understanding of how I can project such emotions physically and vocally.

     My first inspiration was the character of Rosalind Franklin from Anna Ziegler’s ‘Photograph 51’.  This is a character with a completely different origin story, but I see a connection between her, and Konstantin’s, objectives.  Both have a desire to be respected for their work and not seen just for what they are.  As everyone saw Rosalind Franklin as nothing more than a woman, when in a matter of fact she was the scientist who made the discovery of DNA imagery through ‘Photograph 51’.  Throughout her story we see her desperate desire to be heard amongst her colleagues and to receive credit for her work, which was all underwhelmed due to her gender.  Inflicting both characters’ share the desire to be heard.

     My second inspiration was the character of Nick Dunne from Gillian Flynn’s ‘Gone Girl’.  Now this is a character representing the everyday man in a contemporary time period, being attacked by the press because of an event he wasn’t involved in.  The story of ‘Gone Girl’ takes a minor exploration to the misfortunes and heavy backlashes that come with being the centre of attention to thousands of people.  This is something I can see a connection to in Konstantin’s lifestyle.  Konstantin’s mother is hugely famous actress in ‘The Seagull’ and he has been raised and lives in the shadow of her fame and fortune.  All things he doesn’t want.  Similarly to the lead of ‘Gone Girl’, as he himself is trapped with the worlds press watching his every move.  Inflicting both characters’ share the desire to escape.

     These are elements and reflections that I aim to use for inspiration to further enhance my performance to a contemporary audience and bring good intention to the character of Konstantin.

‘The Seagull’ Plot Summary: http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/seagull/summary.html

‘Photograph 51’ Review: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/sep/14/nicole-kidman-photograph-51-noel-coward-theatre-rosalind-franklin-review

‘Gone Girl’ Synopsis: http://www.shmoop.com/gone-girl/summary.html