Performance and reality refract into a chaos of images and dreams as a working class NYC theatre group subsumes itself in a year-long rehearsal of Chekhov’s 'The Seagull.'

”Adult Film employs both the stage and the screen in their theater practice, be that having projections running in shows, or the documenting of their process like in their forthcoming feature Chekhovian, following Adult Film’s 2024 storied and practically reality-bending year-long attempt to realize a newly translated rendition of The Seagull.” — ALEX LEI, BRUISER MAG

Inspired by the four year rehearsal process for Andre Gregory’s “Vanya on 42nd Street”, Adult Film artistic director Ryan Czerwonko wondered if in our fragmented modern era, if it would be possible to get a group of actors together - without the promise of financial reward or commercial success - for one whole year to work on Anton Chekhov’s “The Seagull”.

The answer was almost “No”. With filmmakers Meg Case and Brad Porter documenting this experimental acting process, a Russian Doll began to unfold: an experience about actors doing a play while making a film about doing a play. Blurring the lines between acting for the stage or for the camera, crossing boundaries between life and art. The project nearly collapsed in on itself. This film is about creative madness, the joy and pain of theater people. In an evermore unaffordable NYC, Chekhovian follows a group of working class artists daring to take the time to love their craft - and to hope for a future in art.

CHEKHOVIAN

A chaos of images & Dreams

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