Three characters from The Seagull are in a CND meeting... not to start of a bad joke but the concept for Spun Glass Theatre’s You Left Me in the Dark; an adaptation of Chekhov’s classic comi-tragedy which reduces it to its basest components. The narrative, as much as there is one, is a simple ‘he loves her, she doesn’t love him’ and vice versa. The newly written text – with a few original lines remaining – is not rich, deep or strong enough to carry the themes of the play through to this new location.
Masha, Constantin and Nina are all faithfully portrayed according to character type. Performances are strong, particularly from Laura Lexx who takes on the character of Masha, but it just made me want to see them in the parts as originally written. I particularly enjoyed the development of Masha’s character, give she is a small but wonderful role in the original production. Lexx delivers a monologue that draws us into the intensity, deepness and pain of her love for Constantin that suggests she could really offer something.
The same, however, cannot be said for the final scene of the performance that sees Lexx deliver a version of Florence and the Machine’s ‘Cosmic Love’ in an attempt to portray Masha’s angst. Music by this much-loved artist is the soundtrack to the play, and its presence is not explained. Masha’s song feels like a scene included to bookend the show and has no depth or reason to it. But then the very reason for this company having adapted this play at all is as unexplained as Florence’s music. Why are these characters now CND activists and why is this element not carried through or developed into anything more concrete?
Adapting such a classic as this is always a huge task to take on, and from the outset there must be complete clarity in the reasons for providing this different approach. The work has some promising concepts, but these need to be developed further to give the much-needed sense of clarity. Strong performances and interesting ideas are its good points, but it’s more a work in progress than finished piece.
