THE HANGOVER REPORT – The Mint’s fine revival of N.C. Hunter’s A DAY BY THE SEA inescapably evokes Chekhov

Directing Austin Pendleton Sets Charles Morgan Costumes Martha Hally Lights Xavier Pierce Original Music & Sound Jane Shaw Props Joshua Yocom

The company of the Mint’s revival of “A Day by the Sea”

Last night, I attended a performance of a very fine revival of N.C. Hunter’s rarely-performed play A Day by the Sea, courtesy of the folks at the newly itinerant Mint Theater Company (now performing at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row). With this production, the Mint has once done an admirable reclamation job with another lost theatrical gem. While I would hesitate to classify A Day by the Sea a masterpiece, it certainly casts a spell over the audience through the course of its three slow-burning acts, evoking Chekhov at nearly every turn. The play takes place on a country estate in Dorset and depicts a 24-hour period in the lives of its guests. As with Chekhov’s plays, Mr. Hunter’s piece is rife with missed romantic connections, misunderstandings, unfulfilled lives, and a series of seemingly mundane activities.

The production is directed by Austin Pendleton with a keen sense of the Chekhovian. Mr. Pendleton is no stranger to Chekhov, having directed a trio of the Russian master’s works at Classic Stage Company to great acclaim (Ivanov, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya). Here, he deploys his considerable expertise to excellent effect, beautifully pacing each of the three acts and etching numerous nuanced details into Mr. Hunter’s play. The cast is mostly superb in this ensemble-driven play, particularly Julian Elfer’s brooding Julian Anson, Jill Tanner’s meddling Laura Anson (Julian’s mother), George Morfogen’s exquisitely befuddled David Anson (Julian’s uncle), and Philip Goodwin’s Jaques-like Doctor Farley (the family’s live-in doctor, who is also a drunkard). True to Chekhov, even the some of the minor characters are given a chance to shine, and shine brightly they do.

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A DAY BY THE SEA
Off-Broadway, Play
Mint Theater Company at the Beckett Theatre
2 hours, 55 minutes (with two intermissions)
Through September 24

Categories: Off-Broadway, Theater

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