Part murder mystery, part spiritual quest, this freewheeling distillation of Dostoevsky's 19th century classic, mapped onto a modern American story, asks the question of how to be a good person in today's world. More…
From the show:
Expect family drama, love triangles, beauty, suffering, dance, light beer, fish soup, Murder?!, processing trauma, and a total disregard for the arcane gender roles of the novel.
See it if You like unique, outside the box shows. Part play/dance/film this show attempts to keep a foot in all mediums. Good acting/costumes/lights.
Don't see it if You want a coherent storyline. This is muddled from the beginning. Not only muddled bud bogged down with superfluous dance and film.
Also Too long. Too much.
See it if Brenner's puzzling, idiosyncratic DIY adapt of iconic Russian novel works fairly well despite choppy structure; Russian pessimism pervasive
Don't see it if Can feel like a Clift Notes version of the epic work w/o a passing knowledge (but then how could it not) Russian folk movement may distract
See it if you love classic Russian lit, updated, or would like to see a multimedia experiment in adapting a classic tale to the stage.
Don't see it if you want a standard play: This piece mixes genres & realms.
Also 20 minutes into “The Karamazovs,” a multimedia stage rendering of the ... Read more Read less
See it if you want a strange combination of pointless plot, graceless dance and a crazy video. No resemblance to Dostoevsky.
Don't see it if you like Dostoevsky and don't want to cringe when late 1800's Russians are wearing cowboy boots and tartan plaid, oh, and making videos.
See it if you have to see every theatrical adaptation of Russian lit. You know someone in the cast & can tell him how great it was w/ a straight face.
Don't see it if you expect a coherent adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov instead of this horrible,confusing mishmash of time periods,mixed media, & dance.
Also We never see the father. While we are told he is dying of stomach, not... Read more Read less
See it if you like experimental theater, you like relationships conveyed through body movement
Don't see it if gender fluidity bothers you, you want a faithful adaptation of Dostoevsky, you want a drama you can follow
See it if You want to see very earnest actors do their very best with muddled material
Don't see it if You need clarity; this picked one thread out of the book (which is OK) but then badly frayed its edges
See it if you can endure 1hr 40min No Intermission post-modern mess of quirky costumes, interpretive dance, yelling & screaming & uninspired acting
Don't see it if you want to understand the classic 19th c Russian lit plot. It’s nowhere to be found. Suggested title: “Very loosely based on Karamazovs.”
See it if You like dostojewski and modern adaptations of classical novels. Character studies. Suspense. Use of different media
Don't see it if You need a play with many actors and a lot of action . You don’t like anything that doesn’t do the novel justice. Don’t enjoy multimedia
See it if you remember the book well, otherwise, this adaptation might be difficult to follow
Don't see it if taking liberties with a venerable classic (and doing so - it seems - without a clear purpose) is not your kind of thing
See it if Interpretive dance fan. Good and innovative use of video. Good acting.
Don't see it if Traditional theater is your thing. You find it annoying to see confusing and poorly done interpretive dance used as a filler.
See it if You enjoy monologues and strange acting.
Don't see it if It was extremely boring and hard to focus on. Too strange for me.
See it if you want to feel smart by revisiting a classic
Don't see it if you don't like a pretentious retelling without any grounding of place, in an overacted script.
See it if Who killed the old man? It's the love/hate/greed thing that makes families fun. If you can bear it, gets clearer and better in the 2nd half
Don't see it if If you don't know the original story, you won't find it here. It's nonstop confusion, with strange dancing doing nothing to clarify matters
See it if If you like to get the essence of a classic without reading a massive novel. Great staging, acting, costumes and film exerts. A must see!
Don't see it if The show is a tad slow and the plot a bit confusing but great acting and staging make it an entertaining night. Worth catching
See it if you’d enjoy a modest, well-intentioned, modern take on a classic with inventive costuming and earnest acting.
Don't see it if you’re looking for a traditional theatrical experience or multi-media experimentation doesn’t interest you.