“We need the theatre, couldn’t, couldn’t do without it. Could we?” A successful actress visits her brother’s isolated estate far from the city, throwing the frustrated residents unfulfilled ambitions into sharp relief. As her son attempts to impress with a self-penned play, putting much more than his pride at stake, others dream of fame, love and the ability to change their past. Chekhov’s darkly comic masterpiece is reignited for the 21st century by one of the most exciting new voices in British Theatre, Anya Reiss, Winner of the Most Promising Playwright at both the Evening Standard and Critics’ Circle awards. "Anya Reiss dazzles us once again with a fresh, colloquial, sexy and downright perceptive new version of The Seagull that brings Chekhov’s earliest major play recognisably close to home and up-to-date." - Telegraph "This is the first time that Reiss has attempted an adaptation of one of the classic writers and it is an assured beginning. Her witty, understated rendering captures perfectly the dark comedy of the various love triangles." - What’s On Stage "Now The Seagull has been Anglicized and pulled into the 21st century by award-laden wunderkind Anya Reiss." - Independent "Anya Reiss dazzles us once again with a fresh, colloquial, sexy and downright perceptive new version of The Seagull that brings Chekhov’s earliest major play recognisably close to home and up-to-date." - Telegraph "This is the first time that Reiss has attempted an adaptation of one of the classic writers and it is an assured beginning. Her witty, understated rendering captures perfectly the dark comedy of the various love triangles." - What’s On Stage "Now The Seagull has been Anglicized and pulled into the 21st century by award-laden wunderkind Anya Reiss." - Independent Anton Chekhov (1860-1904), Russian physician, dramatist and author, is considered to be one of the greatest writers of short stories and modern drama. Born in Taganrog, a port town near the Black Sea, he attended medical school at Moscow University. He began writing to supplement his income, writing short humorous sketches of contemporary Russian life. A successful literary careered followed, before his premature death of TB at the age of 44. He is best-remembered for his four dramatic masterpieces: The Seagull (1896), Uncle Vanya (1899), Three Sisters (1901) and The Cherry Orchard (1904). Anya wrote her first play when she was 14 and then became a member of the Royal Court Theatre's Young Writers' Programme. Last year she was invited to take part in the Royal Court's Supergroup of young writers. Her debut play, Spur of the Moment (written when she was 17) opened to fantastic acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre in July 2010, winning her the award for Most Promising Playwright at both the Evening Standard and Critics Circle awards. It also won the TMA Theatre Award for Best New Play in 2010. Her sophomore play The Acid Test was staged at the Royal Court in 2011 to a sell-out run and great reviews. Anya will be contributing a piece to the Bush Theatre's 66 Books: A Contemporary Response to the King James Bible , which opens in October.