[seagull] review – silence proves golden in innovative if puzzling shot at Chekhov

Studio theatre, Edinburgh
Magnificently expressive performances make this ambitious sign-language production feel viscerally new. But what’s with the square brackets?

The silence in this adaptation “after” Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull is startling. Performed straight through at two and a half hours, the intakes of breath, tears, screams of anguish and, of course, the gunshots when they come arrest the senses. So do the intermittent spoken words, which sound almost like an intrusion, and occasional lines of music.

Directed by Stijn Van Opstal, this is a sharp, ambitious, modern-dress chamber piece at the Edinburgh international festival by Belgian theatre companies Toneelhuis and Olympique Dramatique, with numerous translators and adapters. For the first 30 minutes, there is just signing on stage (Flemish Sign Language translated into British Sign Language), with screens translating dialogue.