For the City Times

Opening night of the first production was a famous failure. Vera Komissarzhevskaya, (say that three times fast) playing Nina, was so intimidated by the hostility of the audience that she lost her voice. Chekhov left the audience and spent the last two acts behind the scenes. When supporters wrote to him that the production later became a success, he assumed that they were merely trying to be kind. When Konstantin Stanislavsky directed it in 1898 for his Moscow Art Theatre, the play was a triumph. Stanislavski’s production ofThe Seagull became “one of the greatest events in the history of Russian theatre and one of the greatest new developments in the history of world drama.”

This is the kind of stuff you’ll learn if you come to a WRCT Chekhov Play reading. Plus, you’ll hear the play come to life before your very ears, as being read by the great talents of WRCT veteran actors. And – if that’s not enough – there are Russian treats! And it’s all free!!!!

Sunday Feb. 28, 2016, WRCT Auditorium, 1:00 p.m. The third in a 5-part series, and one you won’t want to miss. The Wisconsin Rapids Community Theater is located at 220 3rd Ave. South in Wisconsin Rapids.