Post Gazette: "For those of us who have read Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' in our youth when suffering seemed somehow noble and the book's great length unimportant, we now wonder how the classic could be turned into a play, and an 80-minute one at that.
What you do is boil it down into a bouillon cube, hoping to create 'Essence of Dostoevsky,' not exactly a fragrance you'd wear on a daily basis, maybe something you'd dab on to ward off swine flu."
5 comments:
I am extremely excited for to see this production. As many high school students were, I was somewhat involuntarily made to read the famed novel, and I did not expect to like it. I found myself completely immersed in the writing of a man struggling with his guilt and his conscience. This novel worked great lengths to show even if man could evade the law, he can never evade his own conscience and morals. To perform this long, long book in such a simplistic setting with so few characters is a very exciting prospect to me. I think the use of the simplistic set will truly heighten the feel of the book. I hope this play will rise to meet all my expectations!
Crime and Punishment is one of my all time favorite books. I have found that I throughly enjoy it when only a few actors play many parts, it gives the play a much more intimate feel, which I feel is perfect for this story. I also think that a threadbare stage is going to be so fitting for the play as well. I am looking forward to seeing this production.
I saw this production on Wednesday and have to say I was pleasantly surprised. The set was stark and lights were fantastic as was the overall aesthetic. My only complaint was that because the cast plays so many roles and the show is so short it took me a little while to get into the world of the piece. By the time I was fully immersed in the show it was already half over. With no intermission I was left wishing the show was longer. The quality of the production however was never in question. Good job to all and I would recommend this show to anyone.
Very cool. I can't wait to see this production because so many CMU alums and faculty are working on this show. I think this is a great opportunity for the students to go out in the "real" theatre world and see work done by formers students and their own professors. This is what we'll be doing some day!
I am really excited to see this show, both because so many people who have ties to CMU worked on it, and because cutting something down is a very important exercise in determining what is important. If people can still follow the show and it makes sense, more power to you. I wonder if any changes other than cuts have been made to fit the story together. So often when people are adapting work (for either another medium or a shorted time) they just do some cuts and minor changes and off they go. You can't do that. So much of a work of art is in the medium in which it is presented, to take it out of that medium is to change it. You have to figure out a way to adapt the work to fit the medium, not just directly translate it.
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