A metaphorically rich play based on Chekov asks “what if” about relationships.

When Erika Saeger takes the stage, Nina questions life, existence. When Claire Hosterman plays the role, she is preening and dramatic.

Thirteen different actors interpret the same character in “The Nina Variations,” based on the dark last scene of Anton Chekov’s play “The Seagull.”

Playwright Steven Dietz was so haunted by the story, he wrote a play that asks “What if?” about Chekov’s ending, 43 times.

The challenge of resolution now falls to Bainbridge High School senior and student director Lara Dorsett and her cast.

“It was so open to interpretation, it could have taken several directions, so it was hard for actors and myself to see which way it would go,” Dorsett said. “It’s very real. You kind of forget you’re watching your friend on stage. I remember I was watching (a friend and saying) ‘Wow! That’s really her, yet really her character.’”

BHS theater presents “The Nina Variations” at 7:30 p.m. every Friday and Saturday through Nov. 19 at the BHS LGI Room, in a metaphorically rich interpretation enhanced with original songs, dances and settings.

The 43 variations devised by Dietz are based on the last scene of “The Seagull” in which Nina meets Treplev, a failed playwright whom she briefly loved and who still loves her.

Nina has had a child with her lover, Trigorin, from whom she is estranged, and the child has died; Tragorin is now the lover of Treplev’s mother. After a final encounter, Nina says goodbye to Treplev, who shortly afterwards takes his own life.

“It’s a complete exploration of love relationships between two people, very intense with yearning and thwarted love,” director and BHS teacher Bob McAllister said.

Scenes range from 10 seconds to four minutes long, but are dense.

“The writing is amazing, it’s complex and filled with metaphors. It has beautiful stories and beautiful possibilities between two people,” McAllister said.

The surreal quality is heightened by this production’s additions, as time shifts subtly forward in each scene from 1892 to the present.

A raked stage frames the scenes like pictures in bad perspective, and the silent maid Masha serves progressively larger and larger cups of tea, metaphorically asking to be filled.

Music by Mark Nichols and dances choreographed by juniors Erika Saeger and Roxanne Foster, including “Death of the Dying Seagull” parallel the development of Nina from bright ingenue to broken woman.

“I didn’t want to be too safe,” McAllister said. “It’s nice to see the old stuff, but who is doing the new stuff? We can afford to take chances in high school.”

Actors were challenged with portraying characters scarred by life experiences they haven’t had yet.

Senior Gillon Crichton has done mostly comic roles, which use a lot of physical humor.

In his four scenes, Nina progressively pulls away from his Treplev until she leaves him, crushing Treplev.

Crichton found guidance from the painful feelings he experienced with his grandfather’s recent death.

“The hardest part is just to figure out what he’s feeling,” Crichton said. “In the last scene (with Treplev breaking down), I tried to take myself back to how I was feeling (at the funeral).”

Dorsett said McAllister urges the actors to look for insights from those with more life experience.

“Mac tells us to ‘Go talk to your mother’ to get the experience of these types of persons,” she said. “For example, there’s a guy who has to switch to a woman. Everyone sees it a little differently. It stretches you to think in different ways.

“There’s a lot of pieces and seeing the evolution of it, it’s really unexpected sometimes.”

Even with all the work on interpretation, McAllister still wanted to leave interpretation open to the audience, so that the presentation of a scene does not impose a foregone interpretation.

Despite the generally bleak story, “It’s really hopeful in a way, (it says) it doesn’t have to end that way. What if they’re happy? What if it ends well?” Dorsett said. “Just the script itself was so strong. This has just enhanced it.”

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Variations on a theme

“The Nina Variations” by Bainbridge High School Theater runs through Nov. 19 at the BHS LGI Room. Shows are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $10 adults, $8 students and free for senior citizens. Get advance tickets at the BHS main office for the coming weekend’s shows. For information, call 842-2634.