About the Show

A biting contemporary update of Anton Chekhov's classic play.

A group of New York theatre people retreat to a house in the Hudson Valley hoping to escape the hustle and bustle of it all. However, they can’t seem to get away from the ambitions, rivalries and frail egos that follow them everywhere.

Chekhov’s sharp, satirical eye for hypocrisy and self-obsession within well-meaning individuals is given bold, new life as Thomas Bradshaw reworks the famous story for the modern era. Directed by The New Group’s Founding Artistic Director Scott Elliott.

Critic Reviews (17)

"I’m left to wonder whether a few moments of enhanced relevance are worth the bother of a comprehensive and often counterproductive update. "
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“Scott Elliott, directing, doesn’t get the rest of the cast whirring at her level. There are awkward gaps between bits of dialogue, and the scene transitions lose momentum, sapping the comedy.”
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“ ‘The Seagull/Woodstock, NY’ brings out qualities in the Russian playwright that are often smothered in gauze...Call it a theatrical Tinder hookup that is as surprising as it is rewarding.”
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“After you’ve acclimated to the colorful language and pervasive horniness of the amusing first half, you realize Bradshaw has adapted ‘The Seagull’ without deviating from the plot...If Bradshaw contemplated big blasphemies to the canon, he chickened out with Seagull.”
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“There's much to appreciate and admire in this stone, even with its flaws. Bradshaw updates Chekhov and squeezes his play for every drop of comedy it has... That said, this is the most I've ever enjoyed ‘The Seagull,’ imperfections and all.”
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“There's plenty of Russian-style discontent to draw on but The Seagull/Woodstock, NY rarely taps into it. Bradshaw has been conscientious about finding contemporary analogues for Chekhov's characters and situations, but their behavior often seems dictated by the mores of a previous century…The leisurely pace of Elliott's production doesn't help, nor does a lengthy opening sequence in which the actors do warmup exercises, then urge us to sing and clap along to Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young's "Our House." In a production where less would surely be more, such little indulgences push the running time to the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute point.”
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“Regrettably, the design elements were not enough to transport me into the world of the play. I found myself growing more and more impatient. “
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“The show feels long, very long, but not to worry. If you find yourself nodding off, you’re likely to be jolted awake by the periodic blowing of an air horn onstage.”
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Cast and creative team