You can’t always get what you want
On a 19th-century Russian lakeside estate, the magic of summer evokes passion in three generations of self-doubting artists. Masha pines for the young writer Kostya, but Kostya yearns for the aspiring actress Nina, who is infatuated with the older novelist Trigorin. Trigorin “loves” both Nina and theatre diva Irina. Irina decidedly loves herself. And everyone aches for recognition, as artists and as human beings. With material not in earlier stage versions, Appel delivers a sexy, full-blooded adaptation of Chekhov’s heartbreaking and comic exposé of unfulfilled desire.