Five questions with Priyanga Burford of 'The Seagull'

Last year, Priyanga Burford starred opposite Matt Smith in the political play An Enemy of the People, earning an Olivier nomination for her role. Now she performs in Duncan Macmillan's update of The Seagull.

Olivier Award nominee Priyanga Burford joins an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Emma Corrin, and Tom Burke in Thomas Ostermeier’s upcoming staging of Chekhov’s The Seagull. The play officially opens at the Barbican in London on 6 March.

Tell me about your character, Polina. The Seagull is set on a big country estate that belongs to Peter Sorin [Jason Watkins], who is the brother of Irina Arkádina [Cate Blanchett]. They spend summers on this big country pile, and Polina and her husband manage the estate. Polina is someone who wants a life that is much bigger than the one that she’s been given, and she tries very hard in all the wrong ways to make life better for herself. She’s got really sincere longings and desires for her life which she can’t seem to fulfill, and she makes some terrible choices. It’s lovely to play someone with all these layers.

The Seagull premiered back in St Petersburg in 1896 — what makes it relevant for an audience in London in 2025? Duncan Macmillan has done a really wonderful adaptation of it, it’s been really sensitively updated. But it deals with really perennial subjects: human relationships, falling in love with the wrong person, yearning for a life you can’t have. These things are completely human things; absolutely current, and they always have been.

What’s it like working with your cast – particularly Cate Blanchett? It’s a very collaborative and open process, and [the director] Thomas Ostermeier likes it when actors bring ideas to the table. We’ve got this unbelievable cast of fantastic actors who are all bringing such an incredible level of gifts to what they’re doing. It’s been great working with Cate – she’s really detailed in her work. It means a lot to her, you know, she’s massively committed. The whole ensemble feels completely rocket-fuelled to me.

What have you seen in the theatre that has excited you recently? I went to see The Importance of Being Earnest at the National – I loved it. It was like a shot in the arm; it was so joyous! I saw it on a really drab, rainy day in January, and it was like having someone just turn the lights on.

Who do you hope to see in the audience for The Seagull? Of course, it’ll be great to have my family there, my kids, my partner and my friends. The biggest thing for me is to connect, so whoever wants to come, should come! My biggest wish for the audience is that they don’t just spectate; that they feel like they are involved in the story, and have stakes in it.

Book The Seagull tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Photo credit: Priyanga Burford in rehearsals for The Seagull. (Photo by Marc Brenner)

This article first appeared in the March 2025 issue of London Theatre Magazine.