California Seagull

The Red Chair Players (Edinburgh Fringe-First winners for the The Laramie Project and Bang, Bang, You’re Dead) will perform Alison Carey’s A California Seagull at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe from Wednesday, July 30, through Saturday, August 9, 2008, at CVenues: C, Venue 34 at 34 Chamber Street.

The Red Chair Players, a high school theater troupe from Connecticut in the United States, will perform the play. The cast includes: Jamie Biondi, Robert Cortes, Emma Feiwel, Christopher Ghaffari, Nishant Gurnani, Annaliese Kirby, Holly Linneman, Daniel O’Neill, Kyle Radler, and Alexa Salame. Stage Managers are Amanda Ball and Carson Wos.

The Red Chair Players troupe is the resident acting company of Greenwich Academy and Brunswick School in Greenwich, Connecticut, USA. This is the company's sixth trip to Edinburgh and its sixth production at C Venues. Prior productions have included Twilight Los Angeles: 1992 in 2006, Bang, Bang, You’re Dead (Fringe First Award in 2004), The Laramie Project (Fringe First Award in 2002, which later transferred to the Cochrane Theatre in London for additional performances), As We Like It in 2000, David Ives's play All in the Timing in 1998 and Elaine May's play Adaptation in 1996. In 1999, the Red Chair Players performed original material in Fringe High at FringeNYC. In Connecticut, they have performed The Laramie Project, Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed, Mary Zimmerman's play Metamorphoses, Tina Howe's play Museum, Grimm’s Tales, Stage Door, Jane Eyre, The Crucible and Film Cabaret 2002, which included scenes from films such as Fargo, Sense and Sensibility, State and Main, Clueless and Dead Man Walking.

Christine Mangone (Director) earned theatre degrees from Dartmouth College (B.A.); California State Univ. (M.A.); and UCLA (Ph.D.), where she wrote her dissertation on American productions of Chekhov’s plays. She has been a director, actor, musical director, pianist and dramaturg in 50+ productions and earned several Critics Choice awards in Los Angeles for her work. After Edinburgh, she will be taking a hiatus to spend more time with her three favorite guys: Damon, Augie and Ty. Bravo to the following talented and hard-working company!

Dawn Fuller (Producer; Costume Designer) is a teaching artist, director, and playwright. Teaching credits include, Black Nexxus Studios, The American School (London, England) and the National Shakespeare Co. Performance credits: many regional US theatres and numerous voice-overs/commercial work. Dawn is currently in the process of publishing an anthology of original theatre scripts for young adults.

Seth Potter (Technical Director) is the Drama Instructor at The Brunswick School. Directing credits include: The Tempest, Dark of the Moon, Pippin, Metamorphoses, and Kiss Me Kate. An avid opera enthusiast, Seth received his MA from Middlebury College.

Amanda Ball (Assistant Stage Manager) is a rising Junior who does pretty much anything in order to be involved in her school’s theatre productions. She is a strong student, a junior editor of Daedalus (an award-winning literary and art journal); and is sick at rowing. In rehearsals, Amanda was the official brownie baker and bridge card shark.

Jamie Biondi (Taper). This is Jamie’s second time performing at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. In his High School career Jamie was involved in twelve productions, playing characters ranging from an office worker on his first day to Midas to John Human, a witch-boy. He will be attending Yale University in the fall, where, among other things, he wishes to pursue his study of theatre.

Robbie Cortes (Peter) is a rising Senior who enjoys acting, singing, studying and eating “pretzel stix.” During his high school career, Robbie has performed in such productions as, The Tempest, Metamorphoses, The Sound of Music and Spy Kids. An enthusiastic lover of literature and culture, he hopes to attend MIT or Caltech University.

Emma Feiwel (Nina). Emma is so excited to be back at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. In high school she participated in plays, such as Dark of the Moon, Metamorphoses, The Cashier and Laughing Stock. This fall she plans to attend New York University.

Chris Ghaffari (Eugene) most recently played Lucius in Julius Caesar. Other performances include: Kiss Me Kate, Metamorphoses, The Sound of Music, Pippin and Grease. He is a recent graduate of Brunswick School and will be attending Princeton University in the fall. He is very grateful to be a part of this cast and thanks his family, Christine Mangone, Dawn Fuller and Seth Potter.

Nishant Gurnani (Simon) is a rising Senior at Brunswick, where he has participated in numerous theatre and film productions. He earned the St.Christopher's School Outstanding Achievement in Drama Award in 2006 for his performance in The Cinema. Additional theatre credits include: Restoration, Twelfth Night, Sure Thing, Black Comedy, Nickel & Dimed, Metamorphoses and Naomi in the Bedroom. Also an avid musician, Nishant was the former bass guitarist for the band, “Quarantine.”

Annaliese Kirby (Irene) is a rising Senior who has participated in her school’s productions of The Tempest, Dark of the Moon, Nickle and Dimed, and Metamorphoses, as well as various productions at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She is excited to partake in the festival!

Holly Linneman (Pauletta), a rising Senior, has participated in many productions throughout high school, including Dark of the Moon, The Sound of Music, Nickel and Dimed, and Kiss Me, Kate. She looks forward to performing at the Fringe Festival for the first time.

Daniel O’Neill (Cameron), age 17, is a rising Senior. His credits include Godspell (Judas), The Tempest (Ferdinand), Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch), The Cashier (Fred), Ivanov (Shabelsky), Metamorphoses (Phaeton), Laughing Stock (Tyler Taylor), Dark of the Moon (Hank Gudger), The Sound of Music and Kiss Me Kate. Film: Resurrection (Willem) and Camp Hope (Camp Brother). Daniel is delighted to be making his international theatrical debut.

Kyle Radler (Willy) is a rising Senior who has participated in many theatre productions and is an active member of the Drama Club. His credits include: Dark of the Moon, Twelfth Night, The Sound of Music, Ivanov, Nickel and Dimed, and Metamorphoses. Also an aspiring writer, he is a co-editor of and contributor to his school’s literary magazine, “The Oracle.”

Alexa Salamé (Maddy) is a rising Junior who has studied theatre both in school and abroad. She has performed in both plays and musicals, starring in such productions as The Fantasicks (El Gallo), Twelfth Night (Viola), Seussical (Mayzie LeBird), and The Wizard of Oz (The Scarecrow).

Carson Wos (Stage Manager, Lighting/Sound Technician, Poster Designer). This rising Senior has participated in theater productions as a lighting technician, sound technician, stage manager, spotlight operator, actress, and dancer. As the Chief Art Editor for Daedalus, an award-winning literary magazine, she has received the Ray Noble Award for the Visual Arts and has exhibited artwork, including her award-winning photography.

Notes from the Director:

A society on the brink of revolution, a decadent gentry class, picturesque country landscapes and deteriorating rural estates characterize the late-nineteenth century Russian environments in which Chekhov’s plays are grounded. His plays perfectly capture the society in which he lived. In short, his plays embody a “Russian-ness.” It would seem impossible to uproot his works from this specific culture to which they appear so unshakably bound. Yet, various directors and playwrights have adapted his texts, transporting the action to different eras and locations. Unexpectedly, many of these productions have been well received, even by admittedly skeptical critics. In the United States Emily Mann’s A Seagull in the Hamptons, the Cornerstone’s Three Sisters from West Virginia, Yuri Belov’s Madame Ranevskaya (i.e., The Cherry Orchard in North Carolina), and Richard Schechner’s Three Sisters (in which each Act was set in a separate era and location) are just a few examples of productions that have emphasized the timelessness and universality of Chekhov’s texts.

Of the various Chekhov transformations that I have read/seen, my favorite is Alison Carey’s A California Seagull. By setting the play on a modern-day California vineyard, Carey, of course, draws attention to and satirizes the commercial Hollywood movie industry. And, at the same time she confronts America with its own obsessions with People magazine and reality TV shows. Just as the nature of art and the roles of artists are questioned in Chekhov’s original text, in A California Seagull the same questions seem perfectly fitting. The issue of what is art - a motif in the play - completely informed the way in which we staged our production; that is, when appropriate, we tried to draw attention to the staging and the “art” of the play, rather than encourage the audience to entirely loose itself behind the “fourth wall.”

Additionally, in A California Seagull Carey fully embraces the multiple plots of “unrequited love.” In the various scenarios she portrays the self-destructive nature of characters as they depend on others for their self-esteem and inner peace; she finds the comedy in the characters’ flaws and their inabilities to see their own flaws; and she captures one of Chekhov’s most defining life visions: many people are simply unable to “live in the present.” In this respect, Carey’s text provides young actors with the opportunity to thoroughly study character, to question their own roles as upcoming artists; and to consider the extent to which so many questions and scenarios transcend era and culture. As a company, we would like to thank Alison Carey for the opportunity to work on and learn from her award-winning play, A California Seagull.