Seagull: True Story

Eli Rarey

Playwright

ELI RAREY is an independent filmmaker, playwright, performance artist, and poet. His feature film The Famous Joe Project premiered at Outfest in 2012. Rarey was a founding member of SCIENCE PROJECT performance collective and has written, directed, and performed on stage with Planet Ant Theater in Detroit. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University in Theater Arts and an MFA degree from USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he later taught in the Interactive Media Division. He is overwhelmed with gratitude to be part of the creative team bringing this unique play to life. 

Alexander Molochnikov

Creator and Director

ALEXANDER MOLOCHNIKOV (Creator and Director) is a theater director, writer, and filmmaker. He worked for over 10 years in Moscow where he directed five major productions in drama, a ballet, an opera, two feature films, and a TV show. In 2022, he spoke out against the Russian military invasion of Ukraine and then moved to New York. He is now unable to return home to Russia. Since 2014, his first play, 19.14 Cabaret, an antiwar manifest about World War I, has been running in repertoire for over 11 years at the Moscow Art Theatre of Chekov. However, the theater has removed his name from all materials. The billing now says “Directed by Director.” Molochnikov’s production of the opera The Telephone. Medium by Gian Carlo Menotti premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre, along with his ballet The Seagull, which was honored with the “Golden Mask” (the Russian equivalent of the Tony Awards) for best ballet of the year. His feature film, Tell Her, about moving to the U.S. as a child, premiered in 2020 at the 47th SIFF. He has created and directed over 10 shows and films in Moscow including the most viewed six-episode TV series “Monastery” in 2022. He premiered a Crime and Punishment show at the Tel Aviv Gesher Theatre in December 2024. He is working now on a feature film related to the novel. His short film Extremist is long-listed for the 2025 BAFTA awards and premiered in Telluride; he is now turning it into a feature.

Sofia Kapkov

Producer

Sofia Kapkov is a New York-based producer who has worked in the performing arts for many years. She is the founder of MART Foundation, a non-profit American organization that supports contemporary culture on the international stage. Sofia has managed a range of MART projects in England, France, Russia, Israel, and the United States, featuring projects at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Sadler's Wells, Festival d'Avignon, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Orsolina28, Carnegie Hall, and Powerhouse: International - A New Arts Festival . MART co-produced the acclaimed Off-Broadway production Our Class, recipient of four 2025 Lucille Lortel Awards, Sharon Eyal's Into The Hairy and Delay The Sadness, London production of What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank, and the Off-Broadway production Seagull: True Story. In 2025, Sofia published a book titled Arts Hustler, chronicling her journey and experiences as a producer in the arts.