The Brothers Karamazov Reviews

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."