
I think it was 2003 when I went to see Peter Stein's
The Seagull at the Edimburgh Festival. I remember that Arkadina, the protagonist, was played by a very affected actress with ginger hair.
I detested her. I mean, Arkadina is detestable, of course, but I just hated the affectation of the actress and I couldn't tell if it was the character or the actress that was annoying me.
This year I saw a staging of
The Seagull with Kristin Scott Thomas at the Royal Court. She was marvellous. Her British charm and arrogance -what a combination-resulted quite adequate for Arkadina.
I found this quote by Stein and loved it. I understood why I didn't like his play:
"It is so difficult for me to introduce comic elements which are so very strong in The Seagull, [...] because you know I have no sense of humour. I am a German and I like tragedies very much and I do them quite well."