Chekhov called The Seagull 'a comedy'. The Sydney Theatre Company seems to forget it was a tragedy, too
- Written by: Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English, University of Sydney
Prudence Upton/Sydney Theatre CompanyWhat is comedy?
This is the question I kept coming back to while watching Andrew Upton’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, which opened to warm applause – and a touch of controversy – at the Sydney Theatre Company on Saturday.
Theatre scholar Eric Weitz notes that comedy is a...