Crime and Punishment (play)

John Gielgud and Dolly Haas in the 1947 Broadway production of Crime and Punishment

Crime and Punishment is a stage adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky's classic 1866 novel Crime and Punishment. The authors, Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, created a 90-minute, three-person play, with each character playing multiple roles.[1]

The play was performed at 59E59 St Theater with Writers' Theatre in 2007 in New York City.[2][3] The New York Times, in its positive review of the play, rhetorically asked, "Who would have thought that the novel no high school student has ever finished reading would make such engrossing theater?" before promising that the Campbell and Columbus' stage adaptation would "banish any bad memories you might have of trying to struggle through Dostoyevsky's book."[3] The show received positive reviews in The Washington Post, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and The Seattle Times, as well.[4][5][6]

The play was performed by the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia in 2006[7] and the Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Md., in 2007.[4] In 2009, it was staged by Seattle's Intiman Theatre,[6][8] the Cleveland Play House,[5] and the Berkeley Repertory Theatre,[9] and by the Kentucky Repertory Theatre in November 2010.[10] It will be performed by the Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company in early 2011.[11]

Campbell previously wrote My Own Stranger, which was adapted from the works of poet Anne Sexton, The Beats, which featured the material of beat poets including Allen Ginsberg (played by David Cromer), and The Gospel According to Mark Twain.[1]

The play won Chicago's 2003 Joseph Jefferson Award, Best New Adaptation.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Crime and Punishment". Dramatic Publishing. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  2. ^ Simmons, Paulanne. "A CurtainUp Review: Crime and Punishment". CurtainUp: The Internet Theater Magazine of Reviews, Features, Annotated Listings. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b Genzlinger, Neil (9 November 2007). "Dostoyevsky's Homicidal Student, the 90-Minute Version". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  4. ^ a b Pressley, Nelson (12 April 2007). "A Lean and Meaningful 'Crime and Punishment'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  5. ^ a b Bona, Marc (6 March 2009). "Cleveland Play House's 'Crime and Punishment' illuminates Dostoevsky's core themes". The Plain Dealer. Cleveland. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  6. ^ a b Berson, Misha (28 June 2007). "A strong argument for 'Punishment'". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  7. ^ "Arden Theatre Company presents Crime and Punishment". Arden Theatre Company. 2 October 2006. Archived from the original on 3 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  8. ^ "Crime and Punishment Opens Intiman's 2009 Season". Seattle, Wash.: Intiman Theatre. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  9. ^ Stoudt, Charlotte (29 October 2009). "Theater review: 'Crime and Punishment' at A Noise Within". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  10. ^ "The 2010 Season". Kentucky Repertory Theatre. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  11. ^ "Crime & Punishment". Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 15 July 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.