The Three Seagulls

Bristol Old Vic (Main House)

Key Information
  • Dates Sat 03 Jul 2021 - Sat 10 Jul 2021
  • Location Bristol Old Vic (Main House)
  • Running Times

    1hr 45 minutes approx (no interval)

The Three Seagulls

Devised together by the Company based on adaptations of The Seagull by Christopher Hampton, Anya Reiss and Stupid Fucking Bird by Aaron Posner
Directed by Sally Cookson

Endurance. That’s what show business is about. It’s not for the faint hearted. Chekhov understood that. And so do the fourteen Bristol Old Vic Theatre School acting students who are about to graduate, having spent the best part of their final year masked up, sanitised and constrained.

125 years after its first production, Chekhov’s The Seagull still resonates today. Konstantin, a young playwright overshadowed by his famous actress mother, attempts to create a new form of theatre. So, what happens when we take three very different versions of the play and explore them through the students’ own perspective?

Olivier Award-winning director Sally Cookson (A Monster Calls, Peter Pan) weaves together three seminal adaptations – Aaron Posner’s Stupid, Fucking Bird, Anya Reiss’ The Seagull and Christopher Hampton’s The Seagull – to present possibly an entirely new way of experiencing theatre.

Welcome to our experiment – expect good acting, some subtext, and a lot of lip-syncing!

Presented by Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Bristol Old Vic.

A Message from Jenny Stephens, Artistic Director BOVTS

It’s fantastic to take to the stage of the Bristol Old Vic and work with Sally Cookson again; nothing compares to the feeling of being in the room together and making work. The past year has obviously been a challenging time for those completing their training and entering an industry that has faced such an existential threat – and this makes our version of The Three Seagulls so personal, poignant and, ultimately, life-affirming. We’ve a sensational cohort of actors and technical students ensuring this return to live in-person theatre is well worth the wait.’ Jenny Stephens

  • Trigger Warnings
    • Violence – threat and real – guns   
    • Mental health
    • Self-harm and/or suicide
    • Loud noises
    • Smoking – please note that there are scenes involving smoking on stage

    If you need any further information, please contact us at [email protected]

Performances

Saturday 3rd July 19:30

Monday 5th July – Saturday 10th 19.30

(Matinees Thursday  8th and Saturday 10th 14:30)

Captioned/Access Performance 9th July.

Making theatre in lockdown

The School is delighted to be working in professional theatre venues once again. Current Government guidance is that schools, colleges and universities, including vocational training centres, should remain open with face-to-face teaching taking place where it is safe to do so. The School continues to be in close contact with Bristol’s Public Health team who are satisfied that all relevant procedures are in place to allow theatre productions to take place.

At the start of the spring term, the School’s final year Professional Acting students changed their living arrangements in order to form household bubbles aligned with their casting. This allows for physical contact between some of the characters, as you would expect in a regular theatre performance. All rehearsals and off-stage theatre work has been conducted following governmental guidance. The cast, director and key members of the technical team have been rehearsing off-site and those who are not bubbled have been maintaining social distancing throughout this process. The off-stage teams working at the theatre are zoned and the production has a dedicated Covid officer to ensure safe practices are maintained before, during and after each performance.

All at the Theatre School are grateful for the public support we continue to receive and look forward to welcoming you back into Bristol’s theatres.

Cast

Issam Al Ghussain 

Katie Dorman

Michael Drake  

Emma Hadley-Leonard 

Charlie Hall 

James Jip

Jake Kenny-Byrne

Lionelle Nsarhaza

Amelia Paltridge

Dumile Sibanda 

Eliza Smith

Theo Spofforth

Dewi Wykes

Tessa Wong 

Cast Headshots

Creative and Production Team

Director Sally Cookson

Set Designer Cat Fuller

Costume Designer Maria Terry

Assistant Director
Rachael Walsh

Assistant Director
Hope Thain

Composer/Musical Director John O’Hara

Movement Director Laila Diallo

Sound Designer             Madeleine Coward

Lighting Designer
Mike Gunning

Voice Coach Lucinda Roberts

Production Manager Ed Wilson

Assistant Production Manager Leila Glen

Production Supervisor Ruth Sidery

Stage Manager Cat Simpson

DSM Jamie Craker

ASM Joe Culpin

ASM Emily South

ASM Hannah Lipton

ASM Lara-Louise Jones

Covid Supervisor Beshlie Thorp

Covid Supervisor Alice Dillon

Prop Making Supervisor Dion Everett

Prop Making Supervisor Danni Davis

Costume Supervisor Katherine Vacara

Costume Assistant Saskia Bath

Costume Assistant Ruth Ferns-Duncan

Costume Assistant Laetitia Gorget

Costume Assistant Maisie Higgins

Costume Assistant Ruby Nex

Costume Assistant Susannah Pearce

Costume Assistant Angelica Robinson

Costume Assistant Charlotte Rowen

Workshop Supervisor Kirk Bishop

Supervising Scenic Artist Rowan Batoctoy

Scenic Artist Gina Hammersley

Scenic Artist Leri Tecwyn

BOV Team

Artistic Director Tom Morris
Production and Ops Director David Harraway
Production Manager Jemma Edwards
Production Coordinator Becky Davies
Head of Stage James Molyneux
Sound Engineer Duncan Arnold
Technicians Imogen Senter, Jon Everett and Sam Collier
Box Office Rebecca Molloy
Marketing Alice Wheeler and Jack Fayter
Communications Amanda Adams and Imogen Downes
Producer Ben Atterbury

Graduating Technical Students

The Three Seagulls Podcast

Rehearsal Photos by Craig Fuller

Students drinking coffee in Clifton Village
The training provided by the MFA programme is superb. The depth with which we explore, paired with unyielding curiosity that is met with the most knowledgeable, passionate, expert tutors is what makes BOVTS programme one of the finest around. I feel honoured to call BOVTS my grad school. Rachel McVay, MA Professional Acting Student
Thu 20 Feb 2025 - Sat 22 Feb 2025
Show
The Comedy of Errors / The Merry Wives of Windsor
News
BOVTS student awarded Luke Westlake Scholarship 2022 2nd yr BA Professional Acting student Sol Taibi was awarded the prize
Leave a Gift in Your Will Leave a Legacy
Natasha Sadier MA Performance Design