January 5th, 2018 was a very special day for Lit Moon Theatre, celebrating it’s 26th season by bringing together 38 actors past and present to perform Steven Dietz’s “The Nina Variations.” It made for an intriguing juxtaposition: a stimulating and joyful reunion of actors from far and wide for a performance of a play inspired by the last scene of Chekov’s “The Seagull” in which Treplev and Nina grapple with the fact of losing their love for each other, and for Treplev, life itself. For many, if not all, of the actors, Lit Moon was the beginning of a deeper love affair with the stage, with the incomparable direction and inspiration of John Blondell, and since all Lit Moon productions are collaborative, their fellow actors as well. So, it was a kind of coming together to say goodbye, and over the course of the play, nearly every way for a relationship to end was explored in this superb adaptation of an extraordinary piece of theater, as only Lit Moon can. Kudos to the original score by James Connolly and Michael Mortilla too!
