The Karamazovs

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 classic Dostoyevsky novel that halfway transfers the action to our time & recasts 3 of the bros as gals, I was lost. Then things kicked in. The piece tries on so many media—dance, song, standard scenes, wildly stylized scenes, long monologs, direct address, live & pre-shot video—that little stuck with me until a standard sit-at-the-table talk between 2 Karamazov girls, an island of calm in the midst of the fury that had prevailed till now. I admire this troupe’s experiments in storytelling, but advise that, in future endeavors, it gather its forces into coherence early on. Piling on so many media, characters (present & offstage), plots & playing styles risks wearying the audience before the first glimmers of understanding arrive. In the end, this outlandish tale benefits from a panoply of narratives. But an audience has to be inducted into any innovative means of presentation if you want it to follow.... 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 lung, cancer, his arrival is signified by intense coughing&is 'played" by another character. Instead of 3 brothers and 1 half brother, we have 1 brother w/ female siblings. This choice seems dictated solely by who was willing to appear in the production & leads to such absurdity as a co-ed monastery. While the play seems to be set in late 19th/early 20th C Russia based on the (bad) costumes, 1 sibling is a film maker, there is reference to the internet--but then a sibling uses an old style landline phone w/ cord;the servant is a "home health aide" who went to an expensive nursing school & 1 character has to pay off .a child support award. Did I mention the gay subplot which has 1 sister in love w/her brother's former fiancee?Of course, we have to use projections, even when they don't add to the play. Then there is random dancing...the dancing is better than the writing, but is superfluous to the plot.... 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 into an"experimental" interpretation of a classic.

Don't see it if impatient; this is slow and unfocused.

Also This is much better at being "experimental" than at serving a resonant story. There are clever representations of today's trends and creative takes on the original characters, but this version lacks where the work is most known for and the philosophical questions are notably soft. There are too many filler scenes (how many times do we need to see the religious sibling talking to God?) that this started to resemble a meandering family drama.

On the bright side, the acting and the design are worth watching.

A side note: there is good video work here that could have been better appreciated if not for Ivo van Hove overusing it in West Side Story and suppressing my appetite for anything like it.... Read more Read less

See it if Well-written, somewhat modern adaptation including many themes relevant today

Don't see it if You want to see a tidy, logical, moral story

See it if you are interested in experimental theatre.

Don't see it if You expect traditional story-telling.

Also Although I applaud Ms. Brenner's effort at tackling this Russian literature classic for the modern theatre, I didn't appreciate the fruits of what must have been a well-intentioned undertaking.

From my viewer's seat, I got the sense that the play had a serious case of identity crisis. Not knowing what it wanted to be & what emotions it wanted to elicit, it did away with all of it. The production's effort showed through in the richness & care taken in the design & tailoring of the costumes, rich tapestry-like embroided jacquard fabrics, that kept your eyes focused. But it wasn't enough, or fashion runway shows would be Tony winners for visual sumptuousness.

In my view, Ms. Brenner's decision to do away with Karamazov ‘Pater’ as a character, reducing him to a terrible ventriloquist cough, removed the soul & thus moral center of the play. Without dramatic conflict, everything else acquired a superficial and non-sensical aspect. We were deprived of a reason to feel empathy for Dimitri.... Read more Read less

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.

See it if you like theatre that pushes the boundaries of what a play might be

Don't see it if expect great acting.