REVIEW: Director's outsized ambition makes for uneven 'La Gaviota'

By ANNE MARIE WELSH - For the North County Times | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 12:25 PM PDT ∞

A white sand beach in Veracruz; the sound of wind and waves; a makeshift outdoor movie screen; a young filmmaker nervously awaiting a dozen friends and family members: In "La Gaviota," Claudio Raygoza creates these images and many more to declare this impressively ambitious adaptation of Chekhov's "The Seagull" his own.

The list of Raygoza's duties in the program notes says even more about the multitalented artist whose ion theatre premiered the new work over the weekend.

He's the playwright, producer, co-scenic designer, and creator of the sound, lights and the film within the play. Raygoza also acts in his often inspired ---- though overlong and unevenly staged ---- riff on Chekhov. And he serves as artistic director of ion, too.

Though the character of Arkadina, a flamboyant actress at midlife, has usually been the star of the show since the source play's successful Moscow premiere in 1898, "The Seagull" (like all of Chekhov's Big Four classics) is an ensemble piece. And to their credit, Raygoza and director Glenn Paris have assembled a strong and thoroughly committed ensemble for "La Gaviota."

Headed by Linda Castro, a talented former San Diego actor in a welcome return as the Arkadina figure (here called Irene), the roster includes an excellent Sara Beth Morgan as the radiantly aspiring Nina and a relaxed Bernard Baldan in a rare local appearance as Irene's bachelor brother, Pedro.

Actors John Padilla as the level-headed Sergio and Catalina Maynard as his former fling, Paula, are in good form here, with Steven Lone giving the most consistent of his ion performances I've seen as the haunted filmmaker, Nico. Smaller roles such as the grandmother Delfina, played by Trina Kaplan, become vivid cameos as well, with Judy Watson's period Mexican costumes adding a colorful realism to the visuals.

Unfortunately, given the overstuffed script and the small size of ion's The Lab theater space in Grantville, the actors are often jammed into uncomfortable-looking groupings or deployed in stand-and-deliver phalanxes that cut against that realism. Intimate scenes for two or three actors suffer less, as co-designers Matt Scott and Raygoza have created a convincingly tropical hacienda as well as that real-sand beach.

Raygoza's script follows the basic outlines of Chekhov's plot. The "Hamlet" parallels in Nico's relationship to his mother Irene remain, along with various daisy chains of misplaced loves. Nina falls for Irene's longtime lover, the famous writer Alejandro (Raygoza), for instance, while Nico pines continually for her.

That Nico's a filmmaker instead of a playwright is perhaps the most inventive stroke. The film itself ---- a darkly symbolist work about the end of the world ---- is shown fullout, with Morgan's Nina speaking the lines from behind the seaside movie screen, while her Eisenstadt-like film image flickers.

The adapted script makes other, less effective changes and additions. The Mexican Revolution provides one potboiler of a subplot. And the news that this family consists of deracinated Russian Jews hiding their heritage becomes an unexplored psychological byway, one worthy of its own play.

The oddest change involves Nico (he was a gloomy, self-indulgent writer named Konstantin in "The Seagull"). Late in the play, when Nina returns to the group, dripping wet from the sea and still in love with Alejandro who abandoned her, Nico has become successful. Everyone knows his name and work. Yet he still kills himself ---- for love and melodramatically.

In general, Raygoza's script tends to heat up such romantic and melodramatic elements in Chekhov, while remaining neutral about the work's overall tone. Nico's long speeches about the new art he's trying to create feel pretentious and boring, like the film, yet the dark comedy of the original seldom comes through in Paris's staging. And Chekhov did envision the play as comic, despite its violent ending.

Tonally, in fact, "The Seagull" may be the most challenging of Chekhov's works. Tom Stoppard's adaptation seen at the Old Globe streamlined the piece, emphasized the comedy and the "Hamlet" resonances and was directed by Jack O'Brien with a physical zest that made plain this was a Russian comedy.

Castro's Irene quite often finds that vein of black humor in her role, and she fully looks the imposing part, especially when she settled in on opening night and appeared in a gorgeous green-and-gold gown for the final scenes. But the bold contrasts in her angry encounters with Raygoza's withdrawn, self-preoccupied Alejandro, as well as the guns of revolution and the return of servant Michi (Estrella Esparza-Johnson) and medic Simon (Matt Scott) from the battlefield become evening-lengthening distractions.

With judicious cuts to the script, swifter directorial pacing, and greater tonal clarity, this cast and "La Gaviota" might realize Raygoza's bold ideas and large ambition.

"La Gaviota"

When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays; through May 17

Where: ion theatre at The Lab, 4580-B Alvarado Canyon Road, San Diego

Tickets: $10-$29.50

Phone: (619) 374-6894

Web: www.iontheatre.com

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