I AM A SEAGULL

_I am to Seagull _is a documentary film evoking the celebrated American theater collective "The Chekhov Project." The project consists of the staging of an annual, totally immersive, open-ended performance-event created from Brian Mertes and Melissa Kievman. from sixteen consecutive years, New York actors, designers, musicians and directors gather to mid-August for a retreat to 30 miles from New York City and engage in the staging of a 'opera play by Anton Chekhov. It makes from scenic backdrop an 1805 farmhouse, owned by the producers, reminiscent of the bucolic country estate settings of many of Chekhov's most famous plays. The result is a site-specific performance for community members, beginning in the afternoon and ending after sunset, involving the entire house, property, and surroundings. A performance of twelve at that takes place over a single day. Like the project itself, I am to Seagull dissolves the boundaries between audience and performer, representation and reality. Life and rehearsal come together in this portrait of The Seagull 's production to curated by The Project in 2014. Chekhov's text is portrayed from a group of New York actors who gather in a lakeside retreat. Through the juxtaposition of rehearsal phases, live performance and pure cinema, this film captures the idealism, contradictions and simple instincts that fuel the very essence of theater making.