Except for Vaughn’s performance, UNLV’s ‘Seagull’ rarely takes flight

Brian Vaughn, the co-artistic director of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, is the reason to see Nevada Conservatory Theatre's version of Anton Chekhov's 1898 "The Seagull."

He's playing the famous writer Trigorin, who's having an affair with the well-known actress Arkadina while spending time at her luxurious but dull country estate outside Moscow.

At first, we can't put our finger on this complicated man. He seems kind enough to Arkadina, but he soon finds himself attracted to the very naive Nina, daughter of a rich landowner.

As he seduces Nina in the first act, Trigorin comes across as a decent man genuinely tormented about doing the right thing. Trigorin is often played as a boob from the word go, because in the second act, we discover the terrible cruelty he's capable of. Vaughn gets under the skin of the writer without judging him. He understands the beauty and power of stillness and simplicity. He makes this villain a recognizable man on the street, one of us. And we hate his character all the more for it.

The production itself, directed by faculty member Michael Lugering, is an average, uninspired show.

Actors shout a lot to show pain, and I wish they had discovered varied ways to vocalize anger.

In the pivotal role of the mother, faculty member Rayme Cornell is at first as graceful, beautiful and proper as one can hope for. You can hear the elocution lessons in her voice. But she gives away too much too soon. She grows monotonous because she plays the same scene over and over.

Most of the acting is university proficient, but Lugering should be made to answer for his casting of Taylor Hanes as the elderly Sorin. The middle-aged actor falls victim to the cliches of a mediocre high-school thespian trying to impersonate an old man. Hanes is a non-student who regularly plays major roles at the conservatory. Is he the only male community actor in Vegas? Or can it be that the conservatory is simply too lazy to tap into the depth of deserving local talent?

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.