From Russia, with love

The director Ian Rickson has decided that the best way to perform Chekhov's The Seagull at the Royal Court is to give his cast a crash course in the art of being Russian.

Rickson, who is staging his last play as the theatre's artistic director, took his leading lady Kristin Scott Thomas - who will play the actress Arkadina - to Moscow so she could scope out the city and meet Russian actors.

"It's like us with Shakespeare," Rickson said. "They've got Chekhov in their souls."

Rickson also believes "Chekhov is best when it's performed from the gut".

To that end, he's encouraged his Royal Court company to soak up Russian culture through literature, art and food (avoiding any sushi bars, of course).

Mackenzie Crook has come straight from the third episode of the Pirates Of The Caribbean films to play Konstantin, Arkadina's son, a troubled soul who wants to write.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays the experienced novelist Trigorin, Arkadina's younger son. Ejiofor, who is excused from Russian indoctrination for a couple of days so he can attend Monday night's Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills, where he's nominated in the best comedy actor category for his role in the film Kinky Boots, also woos the ingenue Nina, played by Carey Mulligan.

"Ian keeps calling me the Golden Child because Nina's chasing fame in the pursuit of glory," Ms Mulligan told me.

Rickson is convinced audiences will see parallels between Nina's character and today's obsession with celebrity.

Conversely, however, from Ejiofor's and Crook's points of view, the play is all about another kind of obsession - writing.

Both actors met playwrights to get some idea of the psychological processes a dramatist endures.

And Christopher Hampton, a playwright long associated with the Royal Court, was on hand to explain the background to his adaptation of The Seagull, which begins performances at the Royal Court on January 18.

The wise and brilliant actress Denise Black, who plays Polina, summed up the play succinctly. "Life does hurt," she said, and then laughed. "Hurt and laughter," she added. And that's The Seagull.

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Who'll be the stars of the arts in 2007?

Our critics introduce the names to watch out for over the next 12 months - the ones you won't have heard of before, the ones that you'll suddenly see everywhere – and the one the critics will love best in 2007...

THEATRE

Carey Mulligan
When Carey Mulligan learned that she was to be Nina, "the part that's completely obsessed me", in the Royal Court's forthcoming, star-studded production of The Seagull, the excited 21-year-old did herself an injury with some curling tongs. Mulligan's blonde tresses will be familiar from juicy parts on television (Bleak House, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard); now live fame beckons.

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Billie's West End debut back on

Spotlight on stand-ins as star's illness nearly turns show into a no-show

Last updated at 17:33pm on 7th March 2007

It is the hottest show in town - the real-life rollercoaster drama of Billie Piper's West End debut.

Less than two days ago she came out of the theatre where she is due to appear in Treats to announce: "I'm doing really well."

Then the troubled actress - who has been seen weeping in public with ex-husband Chris Evans - was forced to pull out of a preview performance of Christopher Hampton's play because of illness.

But today doctors gave the 24-year-old the go-ahead for tonight's preview at the Garrick Theatre. The play is due to open tomorrow, a week later than originally planned.

Spokesman Ewan Thomson said: "Billie was delighted to hear she is allowed back tonight. She hates letting people down and - fingers crossed - she will be okay for Thursday's opening night."

Piper is the latest in a line of West End stars who have pulled out of performances because of illness.

Connie Fisher was ordered to take a two-week break from playing Maria in The Sound Of Music to rest her strained vocal cords. Sophie Bould is standing in.

Andrew Lloyd Webber is offering to exchange tickets for those who have booked for performances while star Fisher is off sick - but seats for the popular show may not be available until November.

Meanwhile Richard Griffiths, in Equus as a psychiatrist treating Daniel Radcliffe, has the flu.

Although illness is unavoidable, audience disappointment at the absence of star performers has often been exacerbated by understudies' apparent lack of familiarity with their roles.

When Griffiths was replaced by Colin Haigh in last Friday's performance, he seemed to be reading the script from a notebook. A spokesman said: "Within the psychiatrist's manual he had a reminder of some of the lines.

"After all, the play had only been open two days. You know how they change plays right up to the first night."

Fisher's absence from The Sound Of Music coincides with a two-week break for co-star Lesley Garrett, who missed a performance a fortnight ago because of illness.

The Royal Court, staging The Seagull starring Kristin Scott Thomas, does not have understudies on financial grounds.

When Carey Mulligan, who plays Nina, fell ill with appendicitis last month, the theatre had to find a stand-in at the last minute. "We were fortunate enough that Jodie Whittaker was available," said a spokesman.

"She obviously is a brilliant actress and she stepped in and did the show with a script in hand." But Whittaker could only do two performances and another actress, Anna Madeley, had to take over until Mulligan was well enough to return.

Director Harry Burton once spent a year as "walking cover" for the part of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady.

He said: "You could almost hear the murmur behind the curtain when they make the announcement that the part of Henry Higgins will be played by Harry Burton - 'Who the bloody hell is he?'

"But sometimes it is a bit of a thrill for the audience, because they think they are witnessing a star being born." The productionwas infamous for the many absences of former EastEnders star Martine McCutcheon.

Burton said: " Martine brought in an interesting East End audience - none of whom took kindly to being told she was not appearing."

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