Master Class with Max Stafford-Clark

This is a Master Class Directed by Max Stafford-Clark of Anton Chekhov’s The Seagull,
Adapted by Thomas Kilroy.

An exclusive opportunity to observe the rehearsal process of legendary British director Max Stafford-Clark. Stafford-Clark directs Thomas Kilroy’s adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL set in the West of Ireland in the late nineteenth century. The workshop features a distinguished cast including Stella Feehily, Trudie Styler, and Mickey Sumner. Called “the leading catalyst of British theatre’s new writing and new talent since the mid-1970s,” Max Stafford-Clark commissioned and directed the original production of THE SEAGULL at the Royal Court Theatre in 1981.

Each rehearsal session runs 75 minutes and is limited to an intimate group of 20 people. Rehearsal sessions begin at 12:00 pm, 2:15 pm and 3:45 pm*

* Following the third session, there will be a Q & A with Max Stafford-Clark from 5:00 – 5:30

Kilroy’s version of THE SEAGULL is a dazzling reappraisal of Chekhov’s first great comedy, a story of a distinguished actress and her passionate, lonely son. In the decline of Anglo-Irish estates and the emergence of the Land League, Kilroy unearths fascinating parallels to the shifts in Russian society that inform Chekhov’s original. This acclaimed adaptation illuminates the play’s universal themes while revealing new social and political angles.

Max Stafford-Clark founded Joint Stock Theatre group in 1974 where he helped develop seminal works by writers including David Hare, Howard Brenton and Caryl Churchill. From 1979 to 1993, he was Artistic Director of The Royal Court Theatre. In1993 he founded the touring company Out of Joint, which he still runs. In New York, he has worked for Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Public Theater, and New York Theatre Workshop.

“This translation is not an act of violence, but a work of illumination,” – The Sunday Times

“The only one in my experience who has changed one’s fundamental ideas about Chekhov,” boomed The Times. Once again, ex-Trinity student and rugger bugger Stafford-Clark had materialised a good idea into dazzling theatrical success.” – The Irish Times