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A refreshing, revitalised adaptation of Chekhov's timeless play about vanity, power and sacrifices made in the name of art. Premiered at the Barbican Theatre, London, in 2025, with an ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett.
About the author
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), a physician by training, is now considered the most notable 20th-century Russian dramatist. His major plays, all staged by Stanislavsky at the Moscow Art Theatre, helped establish psychological realism in European theatre.
Duncan Macmillan is an English playwright, screenwriter and director.
His plays include: an adaptation (with Thomas Ostermeier) of Chekhov's The Seagull (Barbican Theatre, London, 2025); People, Places and Things (National Theatre / Headlong, 2015), Every Brilliant Thing (Paines Plough & Pentabus, 2013); an adaptation (with Robert Icke) of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (Headlong / Nottingham Playhouse, 2013); and Lungs (Washington D.C., 2011).
Author photo by Natasha Krstic-Howe
Thomas Ostermeier is a German theatre director, acclaimed for his innovative and often iconoclastic productions of classic and contemporary plays. He is the Artistic Director of the Schaubühne in Berlin.
Summary
A refreshing, revitalised adaptation of Chekhov's timeless play about vanity, power and sacrifices made in the name of art. Premiered at the Barbican Theatre, London, in 2025, with an ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett.
