Love, death, beauty, despair and one unfortunate seagull collide in this unabashedly provocative riff on Chekhov's classic. Con is a burgeoning playwright in love with his ingénue; his mother, an aging actress, is involved with a famous novelist; the novelist, in turn, is increasingly enchanted with Con's girlfriend; and everyone else suffers on the sidelines.

Chekhov's characters still ruminate on love, revolution and the pursuit of happiness, but this time convention gets shot to hell.