Posted November 13th, 2008 by Vincent Malouf
Director, adapter and Lookingglass Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman discusses with Lookingglass marketing intern
Jessica Wright why she became interested in The Brothers Karamazov, the production’s unique design choices,
and which Karamazov brother she is most like.
Jessica Wright- As you edited the script, were there things that, throughout the entire two-year process, you’re like,
“This absolutely has to be in there,” and some parts you eventually had to cut?
Heidi Stillman- Yeah, totally. Like, one of the characters, Madame Kolkokov, has this daughter in the book, who
is one of my favorite characters in literature. She’s just this crazy girl, and I love her—when I had to pick a
character in literature to do in my acting class in college, that’s who I picked. And I had to kill her out of
the adaptation. I had to kill her off. So there were things like that.
I knew The Grand Inquisitor stuff, and all the stuff that Ivan and Alyosha talk about, like, I felt strongly
that that had to be in there, and I felt strongly that the kids needed to be in there. I mean obviously the
main plot had to be there, but those were the extra things that to me, didn’t feel extra. They felt like
really—like the thematic meat.
J.W.- What kind of questions or talking points would you want people to come away with?
H.S.- I really don’t know. The book is so awesome and it was so… it’s always interesting to talk about
the different brothers’ points of view, as they’re so starkly different people, and they’re so starkly different
types of people, and their driving force in life is so different. I mean, one is like, the body, one is the soul,
and one is the mind—if you want to be really basic about it.
It’s also really interesting to find out who people relate to. When I was younger, I thought I was like
Dmitri, but I’m really probably more like Alyosha—although I’m not nearly as good or as wise as Alyosha.
I just learned so much from the book—as a young person, but also working on the adaptation, too.
Check out the other selections from the interview with director and Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman on the Lookingglass blog.
Posted November 11th, 2008 by Vincent Malouf
Director, adapter and Lookingglass Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman discusses with Lookingglass marketing intern
Jessica Wright why she became interested in The Brothers Karamazov, the production’s unique design choices,
and which Karamazov brother she is most like.
Jessica Wright- The theme of “interconnectedness” is very important to the production, yet as a director, how did
you go about expressing such an abstract concept?
Heidi Stillman- Well, the plot itself is a literalization of that thematic; I didn’t fully realize that until I started
working on the book so thoroughly that every single bit of the book is connected somehow. It’s like
this tangled web… which made it hard, because it made it hard to lose things in the adaptation—but
the plot is an exact replica of that theme.
Visually, I’m trying to tie those little kids into the opening image I have in the play—showing that
the Karamazov brothers were little boys at one time. So the play starts at the beginning of life—
with children—and ends at the end. So it ties everything together.
J.W.- This production feels different than other Lookingglass shows—a bit rawer and stripped down.
Why did you decide to push the designs in that direction? And why wasn’t the play set in a specific time
period?
H.S.- Well, those were definitely choices we made with the design—we were trying to have the show not
be at a distance. And we decided not to have it be of a certain time period, just wanting the play to feel
a little closer to us, and not be able to push it away. So, even the seating setup is supposed to make us
feel more within the world that is happening around us, or peeping into the world, as opposed to being
presented the world. And then the costumes and the sound—we wanted to have some Russian flavor and
have SOME time period nods, but also to be modern at the same time. And then it’s also so much more
a show about the acting and the ideas of the script.
J.W.- So, what are the main characters’ attitudes towards this idea of “interconnectedness,” and “I am
my brother’s keeper”—do they rebel against this idea? Do they embrace it?
H.S.- They all have a different point of view in the play—Alyosha as the monk and the spiritual one believes
this, through his philosophy and the teachings of his elder. But Ivan struggles with that idea, along with
man’s inhumanity with man—though he struggles in doing something about it. In some ways, Ivan is probably the
most like the majority of people.
And then Dmitri was just clueless to all of it in a way, just because he’s SO the man of immediate
passion or emotion, but I think that once he’s accused and in jail, it starts to dawn on him the effect
he’s had on the world, and that it’s not how he wants it to be.
And Smerdyakov…[thinks] I don’t know. Obviously he’s more on Ivan’s side of things. But even for
him, he thought he was going to be able to kill the father, and go off and do his own thing, but there’s
still something spoiled about the act for him. Man is very broad. Even the dark characters can’t go totally
dark. There still that opposite pull even in the darkest ones. And Smerdyakov of anybody had so much
reason to do what he did—being one of the brothers, just as much a brother as any of the other ones,
and being brought up as their servant.
Check back for more insights from director and Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman.
Posted November 7th, 2008 by Vincent Malouf
Director, adapter and Lookingglass Ensemble Member Heidi Stillman discusses with
Lookingglass’ marketing intern Jessica Wright
why she became interested in The Brothers
Karamazov, the production’s unique design
choices, and which Karamazov brother she
is most like.
Jessica Wright- Why The Brothers Karamazov? Why now?
Heidi Stillman- Well, I just have always loved this book and I’ve always been interested in us doing
it. And thematically I think it’s very timely. The book is very much about how we can affect each other’s
lives for the good or the bad, in ways that we’ll never know. Every choice we make just ripples out into
the world, in a way that we’ll never fully understand, but that the power of all our choices is out in
the world, and we can either affect life for the good or for the bad for each other. Which is so superempowering
and kinda terrifying at the same time.
J.W.- How old were you when you read the book for the first time?
H.S.- I think I first read it in high school—my senior year in high school. I had a great teacher.
J.W.- What are some of the differences between that experience then and then reading it again?
H.S.- It’s hard to even know—I like the book so much, and it’s so much a part of me that when I read it
now, I can ‘t decide if I think this, because I read the book, or if I love the book because that’s already
what I thought. I don’t know why, but I just really related to it in all of its vastness. I know my teacher
used to say, “Every year you read it, you get something different out of it.” And I’m sure that that’s true.
And I guess when I was younger, I was much—I was really more hooked into that Dmitri idea… that wild,
vacillating, impulsive action—that you could fall into the pit, and be happy that you’re falling in just
such a humiliating position AND, you know, kiss the hem of the garment of which your god is cloaked.
That idea of that broadness and being kind of driven by your impulses was very resonant with me as a
younger person. And now maybe some of the other stuff is more interesting.
Check back for more from the interview with Heidi Stillman.
Posted October 31st, 2008 by erikschroeder
Now that you've read the reviews, what would you say about The Brothers Karamazov. Do you agree with Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune? Hedy Weiss at the Chicago Sun-Times? Kerry Reid at the Chicago Reader?
Lookingglass believes that creating transformative theatre is an act of collaboration. Most often this means cooperation within a group of artists working to translate a work of literature to the stage. The final key piece of our work is you, the audience. You play a vital role. You complete the process, witness a new piece of theatre never before seen, and experience something spectacular, moving and innovative.
As a key collaborator, we want to know what you think. Post your review below; we are grateful for your feedback.
Posted October 30th, 2008 by erikschroeder
The reviews are in, and The Brothers Karamazov is a hit! The Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Reader all loved the show.
Click here to read all of the reviews. Here are some highlights:
Chicago Tribune
"There's something deeply satisfying about encountering Dostoevsky in the heart of Chicago's Magnificent Mile. Any town where you can witness an entirely new, happily uncompromising, fully realized and wholly sincere dramatic adaptation of "The Brothers Karamazov"—in all its throbbing, three-act, 195-minute, 19th Century glory—just across the street from Walgreens, surely ain't a bad spot to pass your waning days or bring up your kids."
"Several veteran ensemble members do the best work I've ever seen them do. As the troubled Ivan, Phil Smith offers an emotionally stripped-down performance of great force and humanity. The incredibly focused Louise Lamson is dazzlingly uncompromising as the proud Katerina, the center of more than one love triangle. And mostly through a provocative and complicated kind of self-calm, Hara holds down the moral center of the tale."
"Many of the individual scenes are richly rendered on a simple but energetic Dan Ostling set that feels deeply rooted in the material. By the second and third acts, Stillman and her actors really start to cook, and a crumpled picture of life's passions and paradoxes comes alive before your eyes."
Chicago Sun-Times
"Stillman has streamlined Dostoyevsky's novel yet deftly highlighted its major religious, moral and philosophical arguments while capturing the near hallucinatory heat of its snowy landscape.
Chicago Reader
"Given the crabbed, self-conscious irony marking so much contemporary fiction, it’s a relief to reengage with writers like Dostoyevsky who were unafraid to tackle huge, hairy issues like the meaning of existence and the possibility of redemption. And 20 years into their creative life, it’s terrific to see the Lookingglass ensemble take a chance on a big story. Unlike some of their past work, in which they imposed mortal yearnings on fantastical or mythological creations, The Brothers Karamazov represents an admirable attempt to find that little spark of the divine inside damaged humans. Maybe that spark is enough to keep us going, even as we realize that controlling one’s will has little to do with controlling one’s destiny."
Posted September 8th, 2008 by Jessica Wright
At Lookingglass, it’s a tradition to open up the first rehearsal of any production to all administrative staff members—the designers give a presentation, the actors have a read-through of the script, and everyone comes away with an intense feeling of community. As the Fall Marketing Intern, I was invited to attend said first rehearsal of "The Brothers Karamazov"—and so settled against the wall of the Lookingglass Studio this morning to watch.
Heidi Stillman, the director, first outlined the world she wanted to create onstage: urgent, quiet, and rooted in reality. Therefore, through conversations with the design staff, she decided not to set the play explicitly in nineteenth century Russia, but to feel free to use more modern images in order to draw the audience into the piece.
Dan Ostling, the set designer, spoke next, leading us to his elaborate model of the stage. Genuine, un-abstracted images anchored his design—an actual church bell suspended from a grid, a whole chandelier lying on the floor, a gaping, empty grave. In order to give his set a true sense of authenticity, Dan explained, much time was spent in vast scavengers’ warehouses, scanning wooden doors full of nicks—in short, doors with a past. The hardwood floor would not be painted, but laid.
Mara Blumenfeld, the costume designer, agreed. Very few costume pieces would be built, she explained; Mara wanted none of the pieces to look like costumes, but simply faded articles of clothing—with a history. She spoke of a resale shop named George’s, long since shuttered but fabled in Lookingglass lore for its basement full of piles of clothing. The show should feel as though the costume designer had been locked in the basement of George’s—and to clothe all the actors only in items found there.
Mara silently surveyed her images, tacked to the wall, that she had used for inspiration—most in shades of black, white and cream. Interspersed in these were a few flashes of red. “Yes, that is Hugh Hefner.” Everyone laughed.
Rick Sims, the sound designer, sketched in the air as he described the melodies he had constructed—his goal being to slowly fade back and forth from monastic, Gregorian-esque chants to distorted electric guitars. Rick noticed us shifting in our seats, and his voice quickened to dissuade our doubts as he pressed “play.”
A chant, high, delicate, and mournful, started the piece (to be sung live by the “little ones,” according to Heidi), with harsh violins, sounding unnaturally steely and cold, underscoring. I realized only afterwards that those were said electric guitars, woven so convincingly into the piece as to be unrecognizable. Great applause followed the silence.
Speaking next, Chris Binder (lighting designer) described the special TV and film lighting she would use—super-hot instruments built to simulate the bright whiteness of sunlight. Chris’s gestures grew more excited as she spoke of using single instruments to light scenes—a technique she’s been unable to use in the past, due to shadow concerns.
“But I think it’ll work well in this piece, as it’s what standing in the moonlight really looks like.”
Matt Hawkins, fight choreographer, leapt up last. This was not a show of polished sword battles, he explained, but one of people “crushing one another’s skulls with rocks.” An actor joked about the use of actual slaps—Matt seized upon this point so eagerly, I feared he’d leap onto the table.
“Good example! If someone’s comfortable with getting slapped in the face, we’ll slap them ten times in the face!”
The actor blanched. We applauded.
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