Mary Naughton performs in Augustana College Theatre's The Seagull

2010 Apr 21

Augustana's 2009-2010 theatre season concludes with The Seagull by Anton Chekhov on the weekends of April 30-May 2 and May 7-9. Tickets are $10 ($8 for senior citizens, full-time students and children) and can be purchased by calling (309) 794-7306. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on April 30, May 1, May 7 and May 8 and 1:30 p.m. on May 2 and May 9 in Potter Hall within Bergendoff Hall of Fine Arts (3701 7th Ave.).

Mary Naughton from Fremont, NE plays the role of Polina. Naughton is a first year majoring in general studies.

The Seagull tells the story of an actress, a writer and a playwright and their complicated love interests. One common experience unites all the characters in the storya"each falls in love with the "wrong" person. The Augustana production is set in contemporary California, adding a new twist to the warmth and humor of Chekhov's original script, which was set in 19th century Russia.

Jennifer Altenbernd, a senior theatre arts major who plays Masha, enjoys the complexities in the script. "Chekhov is no piece of cake to perform," she said. "His writing has a very unique quality so that it evokes the emotions out of the actors just through the words he writes."

Rolf Koos, a junior anthropology major playing Trigorin, is glad to be part of this cast of The Seagull. "There really are no specific main characters, which gives everyone a chance to shine. The cast is really talented and enjoyable, and everyone is given their opportunity to really showcase their personality and heart in these characters."

Mark Hurty, director, has been working on the concept for this production of The Seagull since he first acted in the play in 1982. "Chekov's works offer rich portraits of human experience. The relationships depicted in his plays and stories are vividly realistic," he said.

Hurty is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco and has acted and directed professionally for 30 years. Past productions at Augustana include An American Daughter, Children of Eden, Black Comedy and The Fantasticks.

Hurty is particularly excited to be working with his older son, Justin, on this production. Justin, who graduated from Augustana in 2005 and recently graduated from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco, joined the cast for rehearsals and shared some of his artistic techniques for the performance.

For ticket information, please visit www.augustana.edu/arts.

For more information, contact Kamy Beattie at kamybeattie@augustana.edu or (309) 794-7721.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private, liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls nearly 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 70 majors and related areas of study. Augustana employs 287 faculty and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it has always done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.