Seagull: True Story by Eli Rarey, dir. by Alexander Molochnikov, produced by En Garde Arts @ La Mama, is a grotesque carnival, exploring parallels between Russia’s murderous repressiveness & U.S. anti-art callousness. Both expect artists to dance, while the Big Boys laugh & throw pocket change.
The plot combines “Seagull” and Molochnikov’s own exile: successful director (Kon), a LGBTQ-friendly avant-gardist, flees Moscow when Putin’s crackdown stops him from working freely. In New York, though, all his fame evaporates. Can he even put on a show? A rich city assures him it has no money.
Amid fairground nightmarishness—half Blok, half Lynch—Kon struggles with censorious actors & a producer in love with his Nina. The visuals are hilarious (Putin pops by) & horrifying (A subway platform materializes around Kon and we remember how Chekhov’s Konstantin acts after he feels forgotten).
The show has 2 driving forces: Elan Zafir’s Anton, a sidekick and sad-eyed joker, & the hilarious MC (Andrey Burkovskiy), part Bulgakovian devil, part NY producer (“Fantastic!” he shouts, never committing a penny), part Trigorin, part what happens if you hire Russian Ed Grimley as your narrator.
After a killer 1st act, they appear less in the 2nd, which costs the show some circus energy—it’s hard to dramatize eroding confidence. Still, designer Alexander Shishkin creates impressive low-budget spectacles, as does Molochnikov, a serious talent, knocked back by circumstance, but not down.