The Brothers Karamazov Plays Like A Tabloid Expose
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Company members mentioned in this article: Heidi Stillman, Philip R Smith, Doug Hara, Louise Lamson, Daniel Ostling, Eva Barr and Christine A. Binder by Ruth Smerling
The Lookingglass Theatre is back to speed with new and improved stories
to the blow the audience out of their seats.Â
The Brothers Karamazov, so
popular it had to be extended to December 21 is as haunting as Madame Tussaud’s
Wax Museum come to life. When Artistic
Director David Caitlin asked the question why tell the story of The Brothers
Karamazov? He found and answer in a
quote given to Aloysha by his spiritual leader Father Zossima “Remember..we are all responsible for
all..for all is like an ocean, flowing and blending, touch it one one place and
it echoes at the other end of the earth.â€Â
 The profundity of that statement
is the hope for this dark story about people fighting for their lives and their
souls against unbeatable odds.
Craig Spidle is brilliant as Fyodor Karamazov, the
womanizing patriarch who would spend his last rubles on his own selfish lust
even if it meant sending his sons to bed hungry. He would feel no remorse about forcing them
out of the house into the arctic Russian cold if he could find women to visit
him.Â
The story opens with a scene that looks like a National Enquirer expose. Fyodor is lying on the table with two
scantily clad women seeing to him. He
sons are young boys who have no idea where to turn.Â
Fyodor, despite his philandering and poor parenting is
religious, often seeking forgiveness from the Church. Aloysha emulates his father’s religious
discipline hoping that it will be his salvation. Dmitri is a good man, but has a weakness for
fast and loose women. He will come to
the aid of a lady, but still ask her to “visit him late at night.â€Â In the case of buttoned up, perfect lady
Katerina (Louise Lamson) when he pays her father’s debts, even when she throws
herself at him, he will not force her.Â
She’s so grateful she wants to marry him. =2 0But his heart belongs to Grushenka (Chaon
Cross), all cleavage and fun, a bawdy girl he feels more worthy of. Ivan is also in love with Katerina, but also
feels unworthy, being too obsessed with the condition of the world he lives
in. He hears more and more stories of
atrocities and feels helpless and useless.Â
Writer/director Heidi Stillman had a hard time leaving
anything out. The story is over three
hours with two brief intermissions. The
translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky wields the difficult,
affectionate Russian language clumsily into English and the actors rise to the
challenge beautifully. At times it can
be difficult to keep all the Russian names in order without a scorecard,
especially since many of the cast members play more than one character.Â
Mara Blumenfeld’s cost umes grasp the epic poverty and
dismal existence these characters must endure.Â
Dan Ostling’s portable, spinning scenic design is stark and more like a
prison than any kind of comfortable dwelling.Â
The kind of place people aspire to move from quickly.Â
The Brothers
Karamazov is a spectacle that shocks, delights and reveals but also strikes
a volt of sadness. Casting is superb and
the chemistry between the actors is electric.Â
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