Ellen Geer updates Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull from 1890s tsarist Russia to Malibu, California during the “It’s All About Me” 1970s, and the exhilarating result is The Seagull: Malibu, a romantic dramedy that’s both Chekhovian and Southern Californian, and a Summer Of 2025 treat no matter how you feel about Chekhov.

Michelle Jasso lights up the stage like nobody’s business as glamorous stage and screen star Irina Arkadin, who has arrived for this seaside weekend accompanied her younger lover, renowned novelist Trigger Hale (Raviv Shah), much to the consternation of her aspiring playwright son Constantine (Christopher Glenn Gilstrap), a weekend during which romantic triangles will abound.

Adapter-director Geer signals from the start that it’s entirely permitted, and indeed expected, for Theatricum Botanicum audiences to laugh at what fools these Malibu mortals be in an opening scene delectably played by Willow Geer as the dour Masha (clad entirely in black as befits someone “in mourning for my life”) and Steven C. Fisher as schlumpy Malibu schoolteacher Ted, hopelessly devoted to Masha, who’s just as impossibly in love with Constantine.

 And if these two foolish mortals’ initial exchange already proves a laugh-getter, just wait until would-be actress Nina (Caroline Quigley) takes center stage to perform Constantine’s hilariously pretentious solo show much to the amused confusion of assembled guests Irina, Trigger, Irina’s elderly brother Thad (Tim Halligan), estate manager Ivan (Franc Ross) and his wife Paulina (Katherine Griffith), and gestalt therapist Dr. Dore (Daniel Reichert), all of whose scarcely stifled laughter send Constantine off in a huff and leave Nina wondering if she’s got what it takes to become a great actress like her idol Irina.

Thus begins The Seagull: Malibu’s mind-blowing mix of mismatched lovers as Masha pines over Constantine who’s desperately in love with Nina who would like nothing more than to lose her virginity to Trigger who’d gladly take it from her, not to mention Paulina doing some flirting of her own with Dr. Dore right under hubby Ivan’s nose.

 Meanwhile, Constantine gets it in his pretty little head that shooting a seagull and gifting its feathered corpse to Nina will somehow prove how much he loves her, a clear warning that all is not right in the young man’s head (as if his disastrous attempt at play writing wasn’t already enough).

 Geer’s modernized translation replicates Malibu/Hollywood speak to hilarious effect with plenty of 1970s pop culture references along the way, and with the adapter herself directing with comedic flair and her cast doing all-around stellar work, even the play’s detour into more dramatic waters in its final half-hour feels earned and not an abrupt transition from comedy to tragedy as it might come across in less adept hands.

 Though more an ensemble piece than a star vehicle, not all roles in The Seagull: Malibu are created equal.

 To begin with, there’s probably no more dazzling Chekhovian leading lady than the controlling, self-involved, at times casually cruel, but never less than dazzling Irina, and Jasso plays her to the hilt like Elizabeth Taylor returned to life.

Gilstrap’s Constantine is as heartbreakingly needy as he is achingly vulnerable, Quigley is ingenue perfection as the too naive Nina, Shah’s black-maned Trigger is more than capable of triggering a woman’s basic instincts, and Willow Geer so completely vanishes into the dowdy downer that is Masha, you’d never guess she’s the same actress who’s giving Lucille Ball a run for her redheaded money in Much Ado About Nothing.

Theatricum Botanicum treasure Griffith is fabulous as always as a woman whose love for Reichert’s terrific Dr. Dore could use some requiting, Halligan does his accustomed fine work as the increasingly frail Thad, Fisher’s huggable Ted had me rooting for the sad sack of a schoolteacher from the get-go, and though his role is relatively small, it’s almost worth the price of admission to see Ross so amiable after his dastardly star turn in Strife.

Sam Cowan’s sexy shirtless surfer boy Yakov completes the cast alongside Siena Asencio’s maid and Katie Malone’s Cook.

The hills of Malibu-adjacent Topanga are exquisitely lit by Hayden Kirschbaum, Vicki Conrad’s 1970s costumes are nostalgic polyester treats, Nicole Bernardini’s props are equally ‘70s-evoking, and Grant Escandón’s sound design helps enormously in setting both time and place.

Chad Scheppner is assistant director. Karen Osborne is stage manager and Sky Wahl is assistant stage manager. Beth Eslick is wardrobe supervisor. Lucy Pollak is publicist.

No matter how many times you’ve seen Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull, you’ll find much to savor in Ellen Geer’s The Seagull: Malibu, and for those who might be turned off by a 19th-century Russian setting, it’s a terrific introduction to the Chekhov play in a more contemporary American milieu. Regional theaters would do well to snap up the rights to Geer’s humdinger of an adaptation because this particular Seagull has what it takes to fly far.

Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga.
www.theatricum.com

-Steven Stanley
August 17, 2025
Photos 2, 3,5, 6, 9, 11,12: Ian Flanders

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Anton Chekhov, Ellen Geer, Los Angeles Theater Review, Theatricum Botanicum