Talk:The Seagull

Directors
Who directed the initial performance? When did Stanislavsky direct it at the Moscow Art Theatre? *Exeunt* Ganymead | Dialogue? 15:31, 4 January 2006 (UTC)
 * The director of the first performance in the Aleksandrinsky theater of St. Peterburg was E.I.Karpov - not a very famous name in the Russian theater. Stanislavsky did direct in the MAT.140.247.103.169 22:34, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

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I added the completion date. It's a little awkward, and it doens't express that it was completed in 1896, not just written then. I don't have time to fix that, can somebody do it? Thanks. Benandorsqueaks 21:38, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Consistent names
The plot summary is good, but it refers to the young writer as Konstantin half the time and Treplyov the other half. This is confusing to a newcomer trying to keep track of the ensemble cast, making him sound like two people. Can't this be fixed? CharlesTheBold 13:52, 3 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Done. I've chosen to change them all to Treplyov, simply to avoid any confusion with Constantin Stanislavski.  Not like that's really a solid line of reasoning...but if anyone has a better justification, I'm open to it...  --ColorOfSuffering (talk) 03:02, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I've made them all Konstantin, as that seems to be the speech-heading used in most of the translations that I have. DionysosProteus (talk) 16:51, 30 October 2008 (UTC)

ColorOfSuffering, in fact it is a bit incorrect. The thing is the Russian have two letters: "е" and "ё". The first one sounds like [a] or [e]. But "ё" sounds like [ɜː]. After the reform ё was reduced, so almost in all cases people can differ this ketters. That's the root of the mistake. So Treplev must be written as TreplEv (with e) but not Treplyov (with ё). --Lev Zadernovsky (talk) 22:45, 10 November 2020 (UTC)Lev Zadernovsky

Recent Productions
Surely this section is rather gratuitous? It only mentions two, and quotes a newspaper (The Metro) which is not considered of any consequence in England (it's a free London commuter paper); in addition the acclaimed National Theatre production is not mentioned at all. Just seems a little odd. 81.155.0.255 (talk) 19:01, 23 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Honestly...I'm not sure I even really like the "recent productions" section as it stands...which kinda' seems to conflict with WP:RECENT. I mean...I think it should be expanded to include notable productions throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.  --ColorOfSuffering (talk) 03:26, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

As my first Wikipedia entry I just added a reference to the ART production. I am getting the details of externals links wrong - and may not have all the internal links that I should. Please correct if you wish. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Timgreenwood (talk • contribs) 02:55, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Vera's picture
I've removed Vera's picture again, as even in a non-widescreen monitor, it interfers with the next section (if the section on the first production was longer, this wouldn't be a problem). Feel free to place her image somewhere else in the article, if you feel it's really necessary (I'm not sure that it is). The MAT picture ought to take precedence in that section, since that's the famous production. I'll be searching for some more images soon, so it may change again. There is supposed to be another Stanislavski as Trigorin one, showing how he changed his conception after Chekhov pointed out that he ought to be seedy, rather than immaculately dressed. DionysosProteus (talk) 17:08, 31 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Moved it up again, as it was still interfering. Also restored the caption to Stanislavski, as it's important that the casual browser is alerted to the inappropriateness of Stanislavski's image as a guide to playing Trigorin, in Chekhov's view. DionysosProteus (talk) 09:38, 1 November 2008 (UTC)

The main picture
Not to create any sort of trouble, but I was a bit confused as to the accuracy of the picture used to represent the page for Chekhov's The Seagull.

It's simple, the fact that there is a guitar is what throws me off. Not once in the play is there any stage direction or even a mention of a guitar.

There is however, a section in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya that features one. In Act One of Uncle Vanya:

Voynitsky: It's a perfect day. For a man to hang himself.

[Telegin tunes the guitar, Marina walks about near the house calling the hens.]

My guess is that the picture is actually one taken of a production of Vanya rather than The Seagull.


 * That's very interesting -- it sure does look like a picture of, perhaps, Telegin and Marina from Uncle Vanya. But I've confirmed that it's actually from a production of The Seagull, and the characters are Dr. Dorn (portrayed by actor Jaroslav Baryshev) and Arkadina, likely from the opening of Act II. Here is a photograph from a Russian newspaper with a corroborating citation: http://www.trud.ru/article/03-06-2013/1294598_umer_veduschij_akter_malogo_teatra_jaroslav_baryshev.html ColorOfSuffering (talk) 22:46, 29 July 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 5 external links on The Seagull. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20121020000457/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120524-MARQUEE-VALUE-The-Seagull-at-the-Walter-Kerr-Theatre to http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120524-MARQUEE-VALUE-The-Seagull-at-the-Walter-Kerr-Theatre
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110618015246/http://www.belvoir.com.au/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=1073225 to http://www.belvoir.com.au/CustomContentRetrieve.aspx?ID=1073225
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110615153253/http://missfeathers.com.au/the-seagull-as-per-benedict-andrews-vision-at-belvoir-theatre/ to http://missfeathers.com.au/the-seagull-as-per-benedict-andrews-vision-at-belvoir-theatre/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110625084909/http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/neumeier.htm to http://www.hamburgballett.de/e/neumeier.htm
 * Added archive https://archive.is/20101208172550/http://www.marintheatre.org/dramapedia/overview/?id=17 to http://www.marintheatre.org/dramapedia/overview/?id=17

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It's a curious fact ...
... that the title in Russian, Чайка, does not mean "seagull" (a misnomer; there are seabirds and there are gulls, but there is no such bird as a "seagull"); it means "gull". Why has this mistranslation stuck, and why can't we put things right? Many will be upset, but do we care about them? I don't. Autodidact1 (talk) 07:33, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 02:38, 25 April 2020 (UTC)
 * Anton Chekhov reads The Seagull.jpg

As a native Russian speaker, to set things straight about the title.
"Чайка" can mean both a seagull and a regular gull; there is no distinction between the two in Russian; due to the lack of distinction, the birds are typically associated with the sea, though not very strongly. The play makes no mention of being set specifically in an inland region; it could be set anywhere including near Baltic or Black Sea coast. "Seagull" is a much more common word and nowhere near misleading enough to warrant an entire section of the article criticizing it, whereas the use of a more obscure word specifically to avoid maritime connotations creates an illusion of unambiguity and attracts unnecessary attention to the distinction (where none is intended by the author).64.98.112.157 (talk) 23:58, 31 May 2021 (UTC)