About the Book: The Seagull
When it opened in St Petersburg in 1896, The Seagull survived only five
performances after a disastrous first night. Two years later it was revived by
Nemirovich-Danchenko at the newly-founded Moscow Art Theatre with Stanslasky as
Trigorin and was an immediate success. Checkhovs description of the play was
characteristically self-mocking: "A comedy - 3F, 6M, four acts, rural scenery (a
view over a lake); much talk of literature, little action, five bushels of
love". Michael Frayns translation was commissioned by the Oxford Playhouse
Company.