-Crime and Punishment - A Noise Within Study Guide-A Noise Within (2010)

7/23/2019 -Crime and Punishment - A Noise Within Study Guide-A Noise Within (2010)

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Crime andPunishment

On the Wings of Fate!09/10 SEASON

A NoiseWithinStudy

Guide

Californias Home for the Classics

CostumeDesignbyChristinaHaataine

n-Jones


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2 A Noise Within 2009/10 Repertory Season

Table of Contents

3 Cast of Characters

4 Parsing a Russian Name

5 About the Play: Synopsis

7 About the Author

9 Timeline of Dostoevskys World

10 The Dostoevsky Apartment Museum11 An Interview with the Adaptors

14 The Philosophy of Crime and Punishment

15 Thought in Turbulent Times

17 Crime and Punishmentat A Noise Within

18 English Language Arts

19 Visual Arts: Dostoyevsky Comics

20 Music: Russian Composers and the Balalaika

21 Resource Guide

22 About Theatre Arts

23 About A Noise Within

FUNDING FOR A NOISE WITHINS EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS IS PROVIDED IN PART BY:

The Ahmanson Foundation, Alliance for the Advancement of Arts Education, Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, EmployeesCommunity Fund of Boeing California, The Capital Group Companies, Citigroup Foundation, Disney Worldwide Outreach,DLA Piper, Doukas Family Foundation, Ellingsen Family Foundation, The Herb Alpert Foundation, The Green Foundation,

Kiwanis Club of Glendale, Lockheed Federal Credit Union, Los Angeles County Arts Commission, B.C. McCabe Foundation,Metropolitan Associates, National Endowment for the Arts, Shakespeare for a New Generation, The Steinmetz Foundation,

Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation, Waterman Foundation.

A Noise Withinsproduction of TheTragedy of King RichardIIIis part of Shakespearefor a New Generation,a national initiativesponsored by theNational Endowment forthe Arts in cooperationwith Arts Midwest.

Portions of this guide used with permission from Berkeley Repertory Theatres program Issue 5; 2 Crime and Punishment.


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Cast of Characters

CHARACTERS IN THE PLAY:Rodion Romanovitch Raskolnikov The main characterwho is alternately called Rodya, Rodenka, Rodka, orRaskolnikov. Raskolnik in Russian means schismatic or pertaining to a schism or division.Semyon Zakharovitch Marmeladov A drunkard.Marmelad is the Russian name for a sweet candy. Theword is closely related to marmelade.Sofya Semyonovna Marmeladova (Sonya) Marmeladovs daughter and devoted step-daughter ofKaterina. Sonya prostitutes herself and falls in love withRaskolnikov. Sofya comes from the Greek Sophia,meaning wise.Porfiry Petrovich The police inspector in charge ofRaskolnikovs case.

Alyona Ivanovna

A moneylender.Lizaveta Ivanovna Sonyas friend and sister to Alyona.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS FEATURED IN THE BOOK:Katerina Ivanovna Marmeladovs wife.Pulcheria Alexandrovna Raskolnikov Raskolnikovsmother.Avdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov (Dunya)Raskolnikovs sister.Arkady Ivanovitch Svidrigalov Dunyas formeremployer, whose namesake was a Lithuanian prince.Marfa Petrovna Arkady Svidrigalovs wife. She diesand leaves a considerable sum of money to Dunya.

Pyotr Petrovich Luzhin A rich man who thinks he canbuy happiness for his greatest desire: Dunya. The namemeans puddle in Russian.Dimitri Prokofitch Razhumikin Raskolnikovs bestfriend and Dunyas guardian. Razum is Russian forreason.Andrei Semyonovitch Lebeziatnikov A tenant in thesame building as the Marmeladovs and a liberal.Praskovya Pavlovna Raskolnikovs complaininglandlady who is owed back-rent.Nastasya Praskovyas servant and a friend ofRaskolnikov.Amalia Fyodorovna The Marmeladovs landlady.

Kapernaumov Sonyas landlady.Zossimov A friend of Razhumikin and a doctor whocared for Raskolnikov.Nikodim Fomitch The Chief of police.Zametov A clerk in the police station and a friend ofRazhumikin. Zametit is Russian for to notice.Ilya Petrovitch A police official.Nikolay and Dimitri The painters, one of whom admitsto the crime committed by Raskolnikov

PORFIRYDo you believe in the story of Lazarus?Do you believe he rose from thedead? Do you believe a man can beresurrected?

RASKOLNIKOVYou mean really? Rise from the dead?Yes. I guess I do.

And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said,

Father, I thank thee that thou hastheard me. 42: And I knew that thouhearest me always: but because of thepeople which stand by I said it, thatthey may believe that thou hast sentme. 43: And when he thus had spoken,he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus,come forth. (John, 11: 41-43).

CLASSROOM CONNECTION

Ask students to reflect on theLazarus story that features soprominently in the play.Ask: in what ways do you thinkRaskolnikovs own life is like thestory of Lazarus? Are there otherexamples of literal or metaphoricalresurrection that can be comparedto Lazarus or Raskolnikov?


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CASTAll characters in the play are portrayed by three actors:ACTOR ONE: RaskolnikovACTOR TWO: Porfiry, Marmeladov, Tradesman.ACTOR THREE: Sonya, Alyona Ivanova, Raskolnikovs Mother,Lizaveta.

SETTINGNotes on Setting From Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus:this is a memory play set in the psychological landscapeofRaskolnikovs mind, and characters such as Marmelodov,Pulcharia andLizaveta appear and disappear to him at varioustimes throughout

PARSING A RUSSIAN NAMERussians typically have three names: A given name first name,a patronymic, and a family name. The given first name is theone given to a child by his or her parents. Sonya and Porfiry aregiven first names.

A patronymic is a name derived from a fathers name. Thepatronymic is formed by taking a fathers given first name andadding the suffix -ovich for a male child and -ovna for a femalechild. So Raskolnikovs fathers first name, Roman, with the suffix-ovich added, gives Raskolnikov the patronymic Romanovich.The family name is passed identically from father to child,with the addition of an a ending for female family members,Sonyas family name, Marmeladova, is derived from her fathersfamily name, Marmeladov.

GIVEN NAME PATRONYMIC FAMILY NAMERodion Romanovich RaskolnikovSonya Semyonovna MarmeladovaPorfiry Petrovitch (not known)

Set Design by Michael C. Smith


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About the Play: Synopsis

Called a memory play set in thepsychological landscape ofRaskolnikovsmind by adaptors Marilyn Campbelland Curt Columbus, this version ofCrime and Punishmentrecounts the taleof Dostoevskys novel through dreamsequence, imagination, and the use of non-linear time. The following summary of theplot of the novel is provided to illuminatesome of the subplots and backstory thatare present but largely implied within the

play adaptation.

Part IThe novel Crime and Punishmentcenters around the suspicion, arrest, andconviction of a poor student named RodionRaskolnikov. Less a murder mystery thana deep exploration of the psychologicalmotivation behind crime, the novel posesquestions to the reader about guilt,justifiable acts of treachery, and control.The book opens as Raskolnikov departsfor a pawnbroker in the Russian capital ofSt. Petersburg. The trip allows Raskolnikovto case the house of an old woman, whohe intends to rob and murder. Aftervisiting the pawnbroker, Raskolnikovstops at a tavern for a drink. There hemeets the besotted Semyon ZakharovitchMarmeladov. Marmeladov recounts thestory of how his daughter Sonya became aprostitute in order to support the family.Too inebriated to return home alone,Marmeladov gratefully allows Raskolnikovto accompany him. Raskolnikov is touched

by the pitiful scene of poverty he seesthere, and leaves some of the money hemade at the pawnbroker. He then returnshome to his cramped apartment.

The next day, Raskolnikov receives a letterfrom his mother informing him that his sisterAvdotya Romanovna Raskolnikov (Dunya)is set to marry a bachelor named PyotyrPetrovich Luzhin. Raskolnikov realizes that

his mother and sister are counting on Luzhinto give Raskolnikov financial assistance afterthe wedding, which amounts to the samesacrifice that Sonya makes by prostitutingherself for her family. Angered at his ownpassivity, Raskolnikov resolves to pullhimself out of his stupor, and refuse to relyon Luzhin. That night, his graphic dreamcasts him as onlooker to a cruel and brutalhorse beating. Upon waking, Raskolnikovdetermines a plan of action: he will murder

the pawnbroker with an axe.

Hearing that the pawnbrokers sisterLizaveta Ivanovna will be away from theirapartment the next evening, Raskolnikovputs his horrible plan into action. All doesnot go as planned as Lizaveta returns homeunexpectedly. Raskolnikov has no choice butto kill her as well. Desperately, Raskolnikovsearches for something of value to show forhis murderous behavior, but he finds only afew small items of any worth. He attemptsto escape, and is nearly discovered by twoclients who come to patronize the store.They soon leave, and he escapes unnoticed.

Part IIDuring the next few days, Raskolnikovfalls in and out of a semi-coherent state.He struggles with conflicting impulsesto confess his misdeeds or flee. Hebegins a game of cat-and-mouse with theexamining magistrate, Porfiry Petrovich.Porfiry has read an article in whichRaskolnikov expounds the theory that a

few select individuals may have the rightto commit crimes, if it will enable themto accomplish certain higher goals. Thetheory incorporates the dualistic view ofsociety that divides the population intotwo categoriesthe masses and theelite. Porfiry and Raskolnikov engage ina psychological sparring match. Porfiry,suspecting Raskolnikovs guilt, pushes himto confess.

CRIME & PUNISHMENT: SYNOPSIS OF THE NOVEL


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In the meantime, Marmeladov is run overby a carriage, and is brought home byRaskolnikov to die. Raskolnikov sees Sonya

there, and feels drawn to her. Raskolnikovssister Dunya has her own romanticentanglements as she breaks off her

engagement tothe increasinglydemandingLuzhin, andsubsequentlyfends off theadvances of herformer employerSvidrigailov.

Raskolnikovmakes two morevisits to seeSonya, vacillatingbetween seekingher empathy andantagonizingher. Sonyasprostitutionweighs heavilyon Raskolnikovsmind, and he

engages her in adeep theoreticaldebate aboutthe roots of hercareer choices.

Sonya reads the Biblical passage of theraising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarusreincarnation mirrors the return to a normallife that Raskolnikov yearns for. He tellsSonya that on his next visit he will tell herthe murderers identitya promise whichhe fulfils. Rather than shun Raskolnikov,Sonya embraces him with her characteristic

selflessness. She guides him to makeconfession by travelling to a roadcrossing,promising him that God will bring him into anew way of living. Raskolnikov refuses anddeparts.

Unbeknownst to Raskolnikov and Sonya,Svidrigailov has been eavesdropping on

their interaction. He tries to leveragethe information gained in witnessing thisconversaion in order to win Dunyas love.

He lures her to his apartment, and promisesto save Raskolnikov if she will be his.Desperate to escape, Dunya tries the door,but it is locked. She removes a revolverfrom her coat, and shoots twice. Thefirst shot is a miss, and the gun misfireson the second. Dunya tosses aside thegun, and Svidrigailov releases her. Thatnight, Svidrigailov sleeps fitfully, and uponawakening, commits suicide.

Raskolnikov resolves to turn himself in tothe police after visiting Sonya for one lasttime. Before arriving at the police station,he remembers how Sonya urged him toconfess, and suddenly falls to his knees inthe square. Kissing the ground, he stirs themockery of passersby. He skips the verbalpublic confession, and makes his way tothe police station. He immediately learnsof Svidrigailovs suicide, and considersabandoning his plan to surrender. However,Sonya appears outside the police station,which propels him to return and loudlydeclare his guilt. He is arrested.

EpilogueConvicted and sentenced to life in prisonin Siberia, Raskolnikov is isolated andwracked with conflicting emotions. He fallsill, and travels to a dream state wherein herelives the moments of his crimes througha parable-like storyline. In this dream-story,illness runs rampant, as deranged peopleinfect each other with a kind of cancer,bringing the world to the brink of uttercollapse.

The dream ends, and Raskolnikov becomeswell again. Walking by the riverbank oneday, Raskolnikov enjoys the beautifulcountryside. Sonya arrives, and Raskolnikovexperiences a sudden rush of deepemotionslove, compassion, repentance.He embraces these feelings, and emergesas a reborn soul, healthy and whole.

Costume Design by Christina Haatainen-Jones


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About the Author

FYODOR DOSTOEVSKYwas born thesecond son of a retired military surgeonin Moscow on October 3, 1821. Whilethe family was a member of the nobilityat one point, their wealth and statushad diminished greatly by the time of

Dostoevskys birth. He waseducated at the MilitaryEngineering Academy at St.Petersberg where he wasmade to study mathematics,which he despised.

Fortunately, the school alsoexposed him to the writingsof Shakespeare, Hugo, E.T.A.

Hoffman, Balzac, Gogol, andPushkin. All served as greatinfluences on Dostoevskyslater works. He was madelieutenant in 1842, at whichtime he was known to havebeen writing romantic plays,though they have long sincebeen lost. A year later, he

left the Academy and truly began hisliterary career. He spent his first years outof the army focused on translating Balzacinto Russianefforts that went virtually

unnoticed. However, his first originalnovel, Poor Folk(1845), was met withoverwhelming critical acclaim. Indeed,his editor, the celebrated poet NikolaiNekrasov proclaimed to a critic, A newGogol has arisen!

His forays into fiction were slightly lesssuccessful but his mind and heart werefirmly rooted in politics. Dostoevskybecame a member of a liberal intellectualorganization called the Petrashevsky Circleand was arrested for this affiliation on

April 23, 1849. The autocratic governmentimprisoned numerous groups that posedany threat whatsoever to their rule.On November 16th of that same year,Dostoevsky and his fellow radicals weresentenced to death and put in front of amock firing squad. They were left at gunpoint in the freezing cold November snow.After several hours, they were told thattheir sentence was commuted to exile.

Dostoevsky spent the next four years inOmsk, Siberia serving hard labor at a prisoncamp. He famously referred to these yearsas the time in which he was shut up in acoffin. Describing the dilapidated barrackswhich, as he put in his own words, shouldhave been torn down years ago, he wrote:In summer, intolerable closeness; in winter,unendurable cold. All the floors wererotten. Filth on the floors an inch thick; onecould slip and fall...We were packed likeherrings in a barrel...There was no roomto turn around. From dusk to dawn it wasimpossible not to behave like pigs...Fleas,lice, and black beetles by the bushel

Siberian exile affected an overwhelmingthematic shift in Dostoevskys work. Hebecame disillusioned with the westernliterary and cultural values with which hehad once been so enamored. His novelsbegan to take on more rural and rusticplots with extremely dark and complexcharacter studieswhat we now considerto be stereotypically Russian. The primarytheme explored again and again in hiswork was the futility of utopian ideas andsocieties. It was during this post-exileperiod that he met Apollinaria Suslova,

the real-life model for his reoccurringProud Woman character type seen inThe Brothers Karamazov and Crime andPunishment.

After the deaths of his wife and brotherin 1864, Dostoevsky found himself infinancial distress and a deep emotionaldepression. As a result, he developed asevere gambling addiction, which eventuallycaused him to flee to Germany to escapehis creditors. While on the run, he wroteCrime and Punishmentin a matter of

days so that he could use the publishersadvance to pay off his debts.Dostoevsky died of a lung hemorrhage onFebruary 9, 1881. His tombstone bears thewords, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, excepta corn of wheat fall into the ground anddie, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringethforth much fruit.(John 12:24) which is alsothe epigraph of The Brothers Karamazov.

A Portrait of Fyodor Dostoyevsky(Vasili Perov, 1872)


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Works by Fyodor Dostoyevsky:

Poor Folk, 1846Mr. Prokharchin, 1846The Double, 1846Novel in Nine Letters, 1847The Landlady, 1847 (also called The Stranger-Woman)The Honest Thief, 1848The Jealous Husband, 1848

(also called Under the Bedand Another Mans Wife)A Faint Heart, 1848 (also called A Weak Heart)Mr. Polzunkov, 1848

Out of the Service, 1848Nyetochka Nezvanovna, 1848White Nights, 1848The Little Hero, 1849 (written in prison, published 1857)The Uncles Dream, 1859The Village of Stepanchikovo, 1859 (also called The Friend of the Family)The Insulted and the Injured, 1861

(also called The Insulted and Humiliated, The Humiliated and Wronged)The House of the Dead, 1862An Unpleasant Predicament, 1862

(also called A Silly Anecdote, A Nasty Anecdote, A Silly Story)Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, 1863

Notes from the Underground, 1864The Crocodile, 1865 (also called An Unusual Happening)Crime and Punishment, 1866The Gambler, 1866The Idiot, 1868-9The Eternal Husband, 1870The Possessed, 1871-2 (also called Devils, The Demons)Bobok, 1873A Raw Youth, 1875 (also called The Adolescent)Pleasant Marei, 1876The Heavenly Christmas Tree, 1876 (also called The Heavenly Fir Tree)A Gentle Spirit, 1876 (also called A Gentle Creature, The Meek One)The Dream of a Ridiculous Man, 1877A Diary of a Writer, 1879-81The Brothers Karamazov, 1879-80The Pushkin Address, 1880


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Dostoevsky Timeline

October 10, 1821 Dostoevsky Born1823 Monroe Doctrine introduced1825 Tsar Nicholas I takes the throne1825 The Decembrist revolt protests Nicholas ascension1837 Queen Victoria of England takes power1847 Dostoevsky starts associating with the Petrashevsky Circle1848 Marx and Engles write The Communist Manifesto1850 All teaching of philosophy banned in public universities

until 18891854-1859 Dostoevsky was arrested and imprisoned on April 23,

1849 for being a part of the liberal intellectual group, thePetrashevsky Circle.

1854-1856 Crimean War1855 Tsar Alexander II takes the throne1856 Sigmund Freud born1859 Darwin writes The Origin of Species1859-1870 The Unification of Italy1861 Emancipation of the serfs1861 The Narodnik movement calls for the peasant overthrow

of the government1862 The term nihilism coined by Turgenev in his novel

Fathers and Sons1862 Dostoevsky leaves Russia for his prolonged stay in

Western Europe1863 January Uprising1861-1865 American Civil War1865 Tolstoys War and Peacepublished1866 Crime and Punishmentpublished1867 Russia sells Alaska to The United States1868 Dostoevsky publishes The Idiot1872 The Possessedpublished1873-1876 Tolstoy publishes Anna Kareninain installments

in The Russian Messenger1877 Tchaikovsky composes Swan Lake1881 Dostoevsky publishes The Brothers Karamazov

February 9, 1881 Dostoevsky Dies

Leo Tolstoy


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The Dostoevsky Apartment Museum

THE DOSTOEVSKY MEMORIAL APARTMENT MUSEUMis located in the apartment in which Dostoevsky livedfrom 1878 to 1881. It was Dostoevskys last apartment inSt. Petersburg, Russia, and is full of memorabilia relatingto his life and work. The museum also hosts occasionalexhibitions of contemporary art. It is easy to imagine theparallels between Dostoevskys own life and the adap-tation of Crime and Punishment being performed at ANoise Within, as the main setting is a small space whichoften represents such an apartment.

The Dostoevsky Museum is composed of several parts:

- The Writers Memorial Apartment the museumsmain, central part

- The Literary Exhibit, dedicated to the writersbiography and creation

- Exhibit Halls, for exhibits of contemporary art

- The Theatre, in which the resident theatre companyThe White Theatre of the Dostoevsky Museumpresents its performances. Other the theatre partnersof the museum also perform in the space. Theseinclude the Puppet Format, Takoy Theatre, andother theatre companies from St. Petersburg, greaterRussia, and from all over the world.


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A Conversation With AdaptorsMarilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus

How did your collaboration come about?Marilyn:The piece really started with Writers Theatre inGlencoe, Illinois, where Im a co-founder. We do a lot ofadaptations of classical literature, and our artistic director,Michael Halberstam, was very interested in Crime andPunishmentand originally asked if I could adapt the novel.He gave me parameters, which were that he really wantedto center it around the murder aspect of the story, andcenter it around Raskolnikov and Porfiry. So I startedresearching the novel, and soon realized that you couldnttell the story without Soniait really needed that femalevoice of redemption in thereso I insisted that she beadded in as a character and set out again to adapt the

novel. When I finished it about a year later, we had sevencharacters and two hours, 45 minutes worth of material.And then we toyed around with it for another year. Wedid a reading, but we really wanted to take this leap andlet the narration go, and had come up against a wall as tohow to do that. Thats when Michael decided that Curt,who speaks Russian, would be a perfect match for us.Curt:I said, Well, really Im not interested in doing alarge-scale production; Im only interested in working ona three-character version. Because for me, Crime andPunishmentis one of the greatest novels ever written.It survives being taken out of its native language andbeing turned into other languages, and its still one

of the greatest novels ever written across the world.An adaptation in the theatre has to go whizzing pastyour head like a bunch of bullets. If you just want theexperience of the novel, read the novel.

How did you know at that point that you wanted to writea three-character adaptation?Curt:Because the only question that Im interested inwithin Dostoevskys Crime and Punishmentis whetherGod exists in man. Theres an old Russian icon paintingrepresenting the idea of the trinity as an iconic number inChristian theologyits this beautiful trinity of father, sonand holy ghost. The idea was always rattling around in mybrain that these are the Crime and Punishmentcharacters.In fact, you can play out about seven different trinities inCrime and Punishment, its all about triples. And so thatwas always in my head when thinking of the novel. AndMarilyn immediately took to the idea.Marilyn:When the script came back it was about 45minutes long, but Curt had captured the essence of whatwe wanted to do, and when I read that first lineDo youbelieve in Lazarus rising from the dead?I knew we hadsomething brilliant.

MARILYNCAMPBELLis an actress, playwrightand co-founder of the Writers Theatrein Glencoe, Illinois. She is the co-recipient with Columbus of a 2003Joseph Jefferson Award for Best NewAdaptation for Crime and Punishment.Other plays include My Own Stranger,based on the writings of Anne Sexton;The Beats, based on the writings of1950s beat poets which starred DavidCromer as Allan Ginsberg; and TheGospel According to Mark Twain, which

debuted at the Edinburg Festival inScotland. For My Own Stranger,shewon a Villager Downtown Theatre Awardfor Outstanding Production of the 1981off-Broadway season. She is currentlyunder commission and working on a newretelling of Frankensteinentitled TheMonsters Lullaby. In February of 2009Campbell and Columbus were nominatedfor an LA Drama Critics Circle Award andawarded a Backstage Garland Awardboth for Best New Adaptation forCrime and Punishment.

CURTCOLUMBUScurrently serves as artisticdirector of Trinity Repertory Company inProvidence, RI. Prior to that, he was theassociate artistic director of SteppenwolfTheatre Company, artistic director of theChicago Park Districts Theater on theLake, and an artistic associate at the TonyAward winning, Victory Gardens Theater.While at Steppenwolf, Curt providedtranslations for Cherry Orchard and UncleVanya; his recently published volume oftranslations entitled Chekhov: The FourMajor Playsincludes these scripts as wellas The Seagull andThree Sisters, thelatter of which won a Joseph JeffersonAward for Best New Adaptation. Hismost recent project, a re-imagining ofSophocles Antigonecalled The Houseof Antigone,made its world premiere atTrinity Rep.


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Curt:Marilyn had done the original heavylifting of the adaptation. I went back andretranslated certain passages because Ididnt feel the translation she was workingfrom was quite vivid enough, and then wecontinued to refine in response to what theactors said to us. We got into a room withthe three actors who ultimately did the firstproduction, and it really changed the shapeof the play.

What do you find thrilling about the processof adaptation?

Marilyn:Shining a light on material that hassort of been lost or passed overrelevantmaterial that speaks to us today that stillechoes from all those years ago. Peopleare still saying the same things; theyrestill asking us the same questions. Its alsoexciting to me to see people hear thesewords for the fi rst time. Its great to letpeople just sit and listen and watch themthink, I never would have come up withthat or I never would have been able toread it that way or understand it that way.Curt:I always find creating theatre thrilling

because you get in a room with otherpeople and together you make somethingineffable happenwhich is not the easiestthing in the world to do. Weve all seenflat-footed people doing theatre, and theexperience of that versus the experience ofwonder you can have when Oh my gosh,look at all these people in a room together,and look at what theyre making me feeland what theyre making me do is kind ofextraordinary. I think the adaptation thrillis the same as the theatre thrill, which iswhen youre taking something thats a textand making it alive. I love text and I lovereading, but I also love the live experience.

In what ways does this adaptation divergefrom the novel?Curt:Well, heres the simplistic answer: thenovel is novelistic, and hopefully the play is

dramatic. Thats sort of shorthand, but thenovel is 697 pages, and part of its joy is itstexture and its heftthat kind of dense,almost tapestry-like quality of the littledetails, such as that Porfiry is wearinghis little slippers and this little robe.That, and the sweep, and the characters,and St. Petersburg, which is truly acharacter in the novel. The play is definitelymore concerned with the themes and withthe dramatic interactions. Our adaptationdefinitely can and should be performed in avery spare way.

Marilyn:One of the things that made ouradaptation special was that Curt took it outof linear time. My original adaptation waswritten like the novelit started with themurder. So Curt put it in Raskolnikovs head,and that gave us this complete freedom totell the story any way that we wanted.

How does the story get us to empathizewith a murderer?Marilyn:At heart Raskolnikovs a goodguyhe loves his mother, he loves hissister, he loves his family, they care for

him, and that love enables him to care forSonia, and her father and mother. In thiscountry we tend to hide behind this maskof righteousness, and say if you made amistake youre just nothing. But peopledo commit wrong acts and are still goodpeople at heart. People are more complexthan just black and white or good and bad.

Is there anything significant in the characternames that we might miss as non-Russianspeakers?Curt:Well, the name Raskolnikov comesfrom Raskol in Russian, meaning schism orbreak, so he is the man of the break or theschismthe split, if you will. The Raskolnikswere the people who wanted to split fromthe central body of the Orthodox Christianchurch. Sonia is from Sofia, which meanswisdom in Greek.


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Is all of the dialogue in the play lifted fromthe text, or is there original dialogue?Curt:Theres a lot of original dialogue.Theres also a lot thats lifted straight outfor example the horse dream speech,which is in the novel, but the way it is inthe play is very much from our play, andonly from our play.

When you write original dialogue do youmake attempts to tie it to the original textor language in any way?Curt:I try to listen to the rhythms of it. For

example, when Im translating Chekhov,I try to translate it so that the music ofthe original is present in the music of thetranslation. Which is why when people talkabout literal translation there is no suchthing. I get that all the time from peoplewho say when you do your Chekhov playsdo you work from an original translation?What does that mean, a literal translation?Nothing literally means anything else, youknow, all words can be used with implicationso they dont literally mean the thing thatyou think that they mean.

So do you see translation and adaptation astwo elements on the same spectrum?Curt:Yes, definitely. Because it is alwaysthe translators job to translate the settingfor her or his audience. Sometimes withtranslation the main thing that you have toprovide is context. Well that immediately isadaptation, because the context is assumedor implied for the audience in the originallanguage. A translation is always fluid, andpeople think that theyre looking for atranslation thats accurate, but what theyrelooking for is a translation that sings. Yourenot going to want to watch a completelyfaithful translation, and youre certainlynot going to want to listen to it. So theresalways adaptation of some kind.

Curt, you mentioned your work translatingChekhovwhat keeps you coming back to19th century Russian literature?Curt:(Laughs.) Neurosis? Is it just a kindof fatal laziness? I have no idea. I have

absolutely no idea. Youre not the firstperson to ask me that, and I wish I hada better answer, except that I do know:I feel like all of the questions that werebeing asked at the end of the 19th centuryare questions that are just as vivid for usright now, and perhaps its that kind ofcentennial moment, but the literature reallyspeaks to me.

What would you say is timeless aboutCrimeand Punishment?Marilyn:I think it relates totally to modern

audiences. Asking for forgiveness is a veryhard thing to do, and I think it definitelyechoes with everybody, this idea ofredemption and can we be forgiven forthe things that weve done. Its a veryChristian idea.Curt:Since the dawn of time weve allwondered about whether God exists withinus. And Dostoevskys basically just posingthe question that whatever you call godmans capacity to be goodwhatever it is,do we have that in us? And when it getsperverted is it forever perverted? Can you

rise again? Anyone whos struggled withalcohol or drugs, or any addiction knowswhat this is; anyone who has committeda crime and said, I will reform, hasstruggled with this idea. Thats why itsuniversal.

Do you think that Dostoevsky was simplyinterested in raising the question of whetherGod exists in man, or was he positing ananswer?Curt:Well, he was mad, you know,profoundly mad. I dont know, I think hethought he found an answer, because theend of the book there definitely is a periodat the end of a sentenceRaskolnikovfinds Christ, and he becomes the man withGod in him. I think Im more interested inthe question, because the play ends with aquestion mark.

Interview conducted by Alex Rosenthal.Used withpermission from Berkeley Repertory Theater from2008-09 Season, Program Issue 5; 2.


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THINKABOUT

ITDoesRaskolnikovbegin the playas bermenschor Last Man?How does heend the play?What does hewant to be?

TWO IMPORTANT PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPTSbecame popularin the late 19th century in philosophical, political, and academiccircles in Russia, Germany, and many other European countries.These were the bermensch and the Last Man. Both sprangout of the philosophical writings of German philosopher FriedrichNietzsche. These concepts clearly influenced Dostoevskys work inCrime and Punishment.As such, many of the ideals that Raskolnik-ov explains to Porfiry in the play come from these highly influentialand controversial concepts.

bermensch:bermensch is usually translated to English as overman, super-human, or superman. The term in German is gender-neutral,

although when translated to English it erroneously takes on a maleform. In his pivotal work Thus Spoke Zarathustra,Nietzsche origi-nated this concept and its opposite the Last Man. Nietzscheposits that any human may become a superman by using consciousthought, or will to power, creatively to vanquish nihilism. Usingthis will to power destructively to reject societys established ide-als, and by continually self-overcoming, thesuperman achievesthe highest form of himself possible.

Nietzsches Last Man, is the opposite of the superman. The lastman is a desolate human creature who does not assert his ownindividual conscious thought and falls victim to the pressures ofsociety. These pressures, for Nietzsche, included belief in a higher

power, morality, and some would argue, earthly laws and limits.

Nihilism:Nihilism is a branch of philosophy, which, rather darkly, proposesthat human existence is meaningless. Nihilists argue that thereis no proof of a higher being, creator, or God figure, there isno proof of a higher morality, and making clear distinctionsbetween right and wrong is meaningless so there is no way forany one action to be preferable over another. It is more often thannot used as a derogatory adjective to describe other philosophiesthan seen as a movement in its own right. Nietzsche was a promi-nent commenter on nihilism. He proposed that Christianity wasa nihilistic religion and the meaninglessness resulted from thedeath of God. He purported that nihilism was the chief obstacle toovercome in the pursuit of bermensch. As one can easily imag-ine, these assertions were wildly controversial, and threatenedestablished religious organizations. In fact, Nietzsche was rejectedby German conservatives, who worked to ban his writings. Later,selected portions of his work were used by many different politicalmovements, including the Nazi party, who unfortunately attemptedto use his concept of the bermensch to support their views ofwhite supremacy.

The Philosophy of Crime and Punishment

Nietzsche 1875


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Thought in Turbulent Times:19th-century Russia and Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment

JUST AS THE DEATH OF A LOVED ONEcan motivate an individual to confront hisor her own mortality, war and turmoil canat times elicit a reflective national mood.The second half of the 19th century sawgreat unrest in Russia, but with it came aremarkable period of intellectual discourse.At the same time the Russia fought withits neighbors and began losing its footholdas a formidable presence in the globallandscape, philosophical movementsflourished, and literary giants Turgenev,

Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky

produced their bestwork. Russias thinkersand writers ensured thattheir country did notcompletely disappearinto the backgroundwhile it began to topplefrom its pinnacle ofinfluence.

From 1853 to 1856, theCrimean War pitted theRussian Empire against

Turkey, France, theUnited Kingdom, andSardinia (and includedpressure from Austriaand Prussia). Standingalone, Russia did notfare well, and the wardislodged its status asthe dominate power ofSoutheastern Europe. It

took decades to recover from the humanand economic losses incurred both at homeand abroad.

The Emancipation Reform of 1861 abolishedserfdom, and though well-intended andrelatively well-planned, fell down in itsexecution because many peasants remainedunsatisfied by its terms. Often compared tothe United States freeing of the slaves, thelegislation failed to create an appropriatetransition from servitude to liberation,and left room for long-repressed anger tobubble over into violence and strife. The

Narodnik movement quickly rose up andgained momentum, calling for peasants tooverthrow the government. (The Narodniksalso embraced the Great Man theory thatDostoevsky made a pivotal part of Crimeand Punishment, which asserts that themen who affect the course of history areunafraid to challenge or disregard the samerules that govern other men.)

Between 1863 and 1865, conflict arose inWestern Russia with the January Uprising,where large numbers of young Polish men

refused to be drafted by the Russian army.Though largely unsuccessful, their guerillatactics persisted in creating a distractionfor the Russian government and furtherdelaying the nations restrengthening afterthe devastating losses of the Crimean War.

During this tumultuous time when the seedsof 1917s Russian Revolution were beingplanted, philosophy began to rise fromthe shadows of what is sometimes knownas the philosophical dark age of Russia,from about 1825 to 1860. Tsar Nicholas I,

feeling that foreign ideas and intellectualstimulation led to revolt, placed restrictionson access to higher education and passedfar-reaching censorship laws with harshpenalties. Unsatisfied, he outlawed all traveloutside the Russian Empire and went onto eradicate philosophy departments inuniversities.

Perhaps as a result of governmentintervention and suppression, Russianphilosophy never attained the exaltedstatus of its European counterparts.But despite the hostile atmosphere, theexchange of ideas among men of lettersand intellectuals could not be squelched.Just as the Tsar had feared, the foreigninfluence of thinkers like Hegel andlater Nietzsche crept into the Russianconversation, and lively debates abouttheological attitudes and what manwas meant to do on this earth buzzedthroughout the Empire.

Costume Design by Christina Haatainen-Jones


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Dostoevsky meanwhile, having spent mostof the tumultuous 50s in prison and Siberia,and the early 60s trying to solidify hisfinancial footing and reputation as a writer,also turned his thoughts toward increasinglyexpansive ideas. His questions gathereddepth, his work grew in scope, and in 1866he wrote the first of his four great novels,Crime and Punishment.

Crime and Punishmentstarted out inDostoevskys mind as a short novellaabout a theory hed been pondering: that

people have an innate moral compulsionto seek out punishment for their sins, andthat this compulsion cant be masteredor overridden. At the same time he wasalso writing a novel he was calling TheDrunkards, about the Russian epidemicof drunkenness and the havoc it couldwreak on families and loved ones. Heurgently desired to finish and publish thisnovel expeditiously in hopes of securingpayment that would help him quell hismounting debts. The first publisher herapproached turned him down, and he

swallowed his pride and wrote to MikhailKatkov, editor of the hugely influentialjournal, The Russian Messenger. Thewritings of Turgenev and Tolstoy hadalready appeared multiple times, butDostoevsky and Katkov had a pricklyrelationship, carrying on a sustained publicexchange of heated ideological dialogue.Though they vehemently disagreed onmany ideas, Katkov respected Dostoevskyas both a thinker and a writer, and agreedto furnish him with an advance and publishthe story.

Dostoevsky told Katkov that it would befinished in a few weeks, a month at most.Shortly thereafter, he threw out his firstdraft that he completed in November for aDecember deadline, and his two story ideasmerged into one. The drunkards morphedinto the Marmeladov storyline inside thelarger novel, and he adjusted his narrationfrom first to third person. He ended uppublishing the substantial and significant

work in monthly installments throughout1866.

In the second half of his life, Dostoevskyembraced his faith in Christianity and theRussian Orthodox Church. He spurned theWestern ideas that were infiltrating hiscountry, and with Crime and Punishment,refuted many of the popular ideologicalmovements of the time. These includedutilitarianism, a philosophy with socialistleanings that put forth ideas about thecollective goods and ends justifying the

means; rational egoism, which purportedthat human beings exist to seek pleasureand to perpetuate self-interest; and nihilism,which declared human life meaningless andlacking any kind of purpose.

He instead infused into the novel hisbeliefs that God does exist and can befound in human beings, and that the wayto God is through great suffering that willeventually lead to forgiveness. His focuson mans part of the equation earned hima reputation a on of the forerunners of

existentialism- a movement that centeredon questions regarding the nature of humanexistence. In his book Twilight of the Idols,the most famous existentialist, FriedrichNietzsche, said of Dostoevsky that he wasthe only psychologist from whom I haveanything to learn.

In a recent article in The Guardiannewspaper of London, writer MichaelBillington notes of Dostoevsky that hisfour great books pose a troubling question:If God does not exist, then is everythingpermissible? With these kinds of probingyet sweeping inquiries that dive straightto the nerve center of human curiosity,Dostoevsky offered his turbulent countrya reminder to pause and reflect, giving agreat gift of introspection to a vulnerablenation.

By Madeleine Oldham.Used with permission fromBerkeley Repertory Theater from 2008-09 Season,

Program Issue 5; 2.


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Crime and Punishmentat A Noise Within

CRIME AND PUNISHMENTis a murder story that implicateseach and every member of the audience in its arguments.It is a psychological thriller that rides a roller coaster ofhilarity, suspense, terror, and insanity. The piece is a brilliant,award-winning adaptation of Dostoevskys great epic Russianmasterpiece set in 1860s Saint Petersburg a sort of Russianslumdog Mumbai.

The entire story is told by three actors who play multiplecharacters, and is set in the mind of the central figure amurderer who relives his horrible crime. He does this through theurgings of Sonya and Porfiry, and relives each painful thought,idea, and feeling that drove him to this unspeakably violent act.

The production images I worked with when beginning to envisionour adaptation of the piece were my launchpad and providedthe visual direction for our environment. I began with:

A collage of doors, walls that disappear and reappear, hiddenstaircases, and tilted hallways that tumble precariously intothe audiences lap. Fog. Shafts of harsh white Adolph Appiainterrogation light cut through colored window patterns atextreme angles. Actors backlit at times so we cant see whothey are.

These images aided me in guiding the focus of the production,

as did the inspiration for the soundscape. The sound is amixture of Tchiakovsky, Glinka, Medtner, Balakirev, Glazunov,Moussorgski and period balalaika street music. These arejuxtaposed against effects of cell doors opening, closing, andslamming shut; horses and buggies; church bells; thunder andrain; crowds gathering; Russian street sellers, selling variouswares; police whistles; a woman screaming; dogs barking; catsscrewing; garbage cans being rifled; a Russian childrens choir;an axe cutting through bone

The resulting piece is emotionally vibrant, chilling, and intense.Crime and Punishmentis the ultimate distillation of Dostoevskysgreat work into its most concentrated, most theatrical, mostinfluential form. Enjoy!

CRAIG BELKNAP, DIRECTOR

In addition to Crime andPunishment, Craig Belknaphasdirected Picnic andThe Miser atA Noise Within. He is founder andartistic director of Direct Theatre(NYC), and has directed fornumerous other theatres includingThe Actors Theatre of Louisville,

The Philadelphia Drama Guild, TheFolger Pioneer Memorial Theatre,Asolo Theatre, New AmericanTheatre, The Alley, and AmericanStage Festival. Mr. Belknaps Filmand Television credits include:Travelers Rest (recipient of twogold medals and ten honorablementions at film festivals aroundthe world), Doogie Howser, MD,The Thirty Minute Movie forShowtime (Cable Ace award).Craig teaches at the CaliforniaInstitute for the Arts and conductsa professional laboratory for actorsand writers in Los Angeles.


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English Language Arts

Discuss: Before the Performance

nAfter reading the play, what are your impressions

of Raskolnikov? Do you think that he commits evil actssolely because of the logical reasons he stateslack ofmoney and opportunityor is he more intrinsically evil?Why or why not?

nWhat is your initial impression of Sonya? Do you findher to be a sympathetic character?

nIn the very first scene where he appears, do youthink that Porfiry knows that Raskolnikov committedthe murder? Why do you think he waits to accuse himoutright?

nTaking a close look at language, isolate areas inRaskolnikovs speeches where he uses artful deceptionand philosophical arguments to justify his vicious act.Contrast these with the speeches delivered to Sonyawhere he questions her career path. Does Raskolnikovhave a consistent set of ideals? Or does he slightlychange his beliefs in order to try to persuade eachof them?

Discuss: After the Performance

n

After seeing the play, how have your thoughts aboutRaskolnikovs inherent evil qualities changed? Howhave they stayed the same?

nThe book Crime and Punishment is Dostoevskyslongest novel, and this production takes place inonly 90 minutes. How do you think this adaptationcompares to the novel? Does it leave out importantstory lines? Or, does it select a particular theme orthread and emphasize that in an effective way?

nHow did the scenery and lighting work with theaction to keep the audience informed of the skips in

time? Did the non-linear use of time seem to still makesense? How would it have been different without thelighting and sound effects?

nDo you think that setting the play in another timeand place would change the way the relationships inthe play were conducted? Would you have made thesame choice if you were staging the play?

ACTIVITIESCharacter Description & Soliloquy

Women in Crime and Punishment: Sonya chooses tosell her body to support her family, and stands byRaskolnikov even though he is guilty of murder. Reflectwith students on their views of this choice:

nWhat are the choices offered to women during thetime of this play? What about contemporary poorwomenwhat kinds of social stigma constraints areplaced on them nowadays?

nWhy do you think that she supports Raskolnikov?Does she seem to support his views? Why or whynot? Or is she merely trying to make the best of hersituation?

nHave students research the other women in thenovel Crime and Punishment. They will discover, forexample, that Raskolnikovs sister Dunya plays a pivotalrole in the book. Does this change the way that theysee the choices afforded to women in the book? Whatimages or stories from television shows, news, movies,books or magazines support these views? How do yousee them playing out in your personal experiences?

Critical ReviewnCraig Belknap, Director of Crime and Punishmentat A Noise Within, had a specific vision for the play.In turn with our team of directors and designers,they collaborated to create the play you viewed. Askstudents to write a review of their play experience,focusing on story, plot, acting, directing, or designelements, and share it with us in the Educationdepartment at A Noise Within.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS Grades 9-10: 1.4, 1.10-12,2.2a-2, 2.4a-d, 3.1,3.4-5,3.9-10,3.11-12. Grades 11-12: Reading 3.2,3.4,Writing 2.1a,c,d,e,2.2a-c,Listening and Speaking 1.4, 1.6-7,2.1a-c,2.1a-c,2.3a-b.


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Visual Arts: Dostoyevsky Comics

R. SIKORYAK, comic artist and illustrator, has adaptedDostoyevskys Crime and Punishment into a short comic bookparody of Batman and his supporting cast. In the adaptation,Raskolnikov dons a mask and costume (that resemble Batmans)before committing the heinous crimes depicted in the originalnovel. This subversion of Batmans role as defender of the publicgood provides a sense of irony when the reader considers

Raskolnikovs justification of his murderous deeds as based inbenevolence.

In the comic, Sikoryak depicts Sonya in the style of Batmanssidekick Robin, and it is the boy who begs Raskolnikov to takethe cross to say a prayer for forgiveness.

As in the original novel, Raskolnikovs redemptive act ofadmitting the murder launches him off on a new emotionaljourney. The comic ends with the words, Thus begins a newstoryof a mans gradual regeneration, of his journey into anunknown lifeBut our present story is ended!

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES

1. Four-panel comic: Ask students to select a favorite comicbook character, superhero, or fictional character. Using sourcesfrom literature read in your class, ask students to design a four-panel comic that depicts the beginning, middle, and end of thetale. The comic illustrations can be as simple or complex as thestudent may wish and narrations should be in comic bookstyle language.

2. Ask students to research a pop-art or comic writer or artist,preparing examples of their work, a biography of their life, andanalyzing how their chosen medium affects the visual impact ofthe work. Examples of appropriate artists for this activity includeStan Lee of Marvel Comics, Roy Lichenstein, or Andy Warhol.

CA VISUAL ARTS STANDARDS: Artistic Perception 1.3, 1.5, Creative Expression 2.2, 2.4, 2.5.

R. Sikoryakis the authorof Masterpiece Comics(Drawn & Quarterly),where classics andcartoons collide. Hesdrawn comics andpictures forNickelodeonMagazine, The Daily Showwith Jon Stewart, The

New Yorker, The Onion, and Mad, amongother media giants. In his spare time,he hosts the cartoon slide show seriesCarousel.

Sikoryak is the co-author, with MichaelSmith, of The Seduction of Mike(Fantagraphics), a comic book funded bythe National Endowment for the Arts. Hewas awarded artists fellowships from TheNew York Foundation for the Arts andThe American Antiquarian Society for hiscomics adaptations of the classics. He isin the speakers program of the New YorkCouncil of the Humanities and teachesin the illustration department at ParsonsSchool of Design.


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Music: Russian Composers and the Balalaika

THE MUSICAL SOUNDSCAPEfor Crimeand Punishmentis based on many typesof Russian music, from several periods.

Drawing upon the work of composerssuch as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Medtner,Galinka, Glazunov, Balakirev, Stravinsky,and Prokofiev, sound designer Bill Froggattcreated a musical landscape rich with thetraditions of the vast area now known asRussia. Froggatt aimed to incorporate themany different elements of sometimesdiametrically opposed musical styles tocreate the auditory environment of the play:

The music is very emotional sometimes well use portions of classicalpieces, and other times we mightuse a short coda from one of thesesongssome sound to punctuate themood or glance that a character mightmake. There might be an interchangebetween two of the characters, andbefore we move on to another scenethe audience will hear three notes from

an oboe, for example. Well be usingsound effects in a rhythmsometimes the sounds will bevery apropos to whats going

on onstage, but sometimes it justmight be sounds of something thatmight be in the characters head like ifhes feeling imprisoned, we might hearthe clattering of the cell doors beingopened, or the dripping of water as hesalone in his reverie.

Balalaikais the term used to refer toRussian folk music performed in a traditionalstyle using the stringed instrument of thesame name. Characterized by its triangularshape, the Balalaika uses either 3 or 6

strings, and comes in a variety of pitchlevels. The prima Balalaika plays theuppermost melody line, while the bassand contrabass play the lowermost lines.The instrument first appears in Russianfolklore and music during the mid-1700s,and the instruments closely resemblesome ancient Asian folk instruments. The

significance of the three-sided body haveled some to observe its connection to theHoly Trinity, however the instrument has

not been traditionally used for Russianchurch music.

In Crime and Punishment, the use of theBalalaika serves to ground the soundscapeof the play in a classically Russian arenathose listening will immediately identifythe unmistakably Russian-soundinginstrumentation, and this serves to quicklycommunicate a sense of locale to theaudience.

Suggested Activities1. Folk instruments often communicate asense of country of origin to the listenersometimes more so than modern popor classical music. Play selections frommodern composers such as Tchaikovsky andStravinsky, and contrast them with classicalcomposers of the same era who hail fromnon-Russian roots. Ask students to identifythe differences, and see if they can hearharmonic or instrumental hallmarks that give

clues as to the origin of the composer.

2. Play examples of Russian folk music,including Balalaika music for your class.Then, play Stings song The Russianswhich contains a section of a famousProkofiev melody. Ask students to vote forthe section of the song which sounds themost Russian, and note if this particularmelody gets the most votes. Then, askstudents to identify concrete reasons themusic sounds particularly Russian.

3. Several colorful folktales exist whichexplain the peculiar shape of the Balalaika.Ask students to research one of these talesonline or in the library, and write a shortfirst-person narrative or script as if they arepresenting the story as fact, and then havethem present it to the class.

MUSIC STANDARDS-Grades 9-12 Proficient: Artistic Perception 1.4-1.6, Creative Expression 2.1, 2.4, Aesthetic Valuing 4.3-4.4.


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Resource Guide

BOOKSBakhtin, Mikhail. Problems of Dostoevskys Poetics.Ardis, 1973Frank, Joseph. Selected Letters of Dostoevsky. Rutgers university Press, 1987.Gide, Andre. Dostoevsky. Knopf, 1926Lynch, Michael. Reactions and Revolutions, 1881-1924. Hodder Headline, 2000.Magarshack, David. Dostoevsky. Brace and World, 1963.Mirsky, Dmitri. History of Russian Literature. Knopf, 1949.Mochulsky, Konstantin. Dostoevsky: His Life and Work. Princeton University Press, 1967.Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Barnes and Noble, 2005Warnes , David. Chronicle of the Russian Tsars. Thames and Hudson, 1999.Wellek, Rene. Dostoevsky: A Collection of Critical Essays. Prentice Hall, 1962.

WEBSITES

Crime and Punishment http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides3/Crime.html#ThemesCrime and Punishment (Plot Summary). Notes on Novels http://www.answers.com/topic/crime-and-punishment-novel-1Dostoevskys Intellectual Influences http://www.dartmouth.edu/~karamazo/influences.htmlFyodor Dostoevsky 1821-1881 http://www.fyodordostoevsky.com/index.phpPrototypes of Nietzsches bermenschin Dostoevsky http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/5599/philosophy/crime-punishment.html

VIDEOS

Dostoevskys Crime and Punishment(The Complete Mini series), 1980. Directed by Micahel Darlow Dostoevskysliterary classic is brought to life staring John Hurt, Carinthia West, and David Dodimead.

Crime and Punishment, 1970. Directed by Lev Kulidzhanov this film (available in both English and Russian), starsVictoria Fyodorova, and Innokenty Smoktunovsky

Raskolnikow, 1923. Directed by Robert Wiene, this rendition of Dostoevskys classic is done with elements ofGerman Expressionism in Horror film style.


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blocking:The instructions adirector gives his actors that tellthem how and where to move inrelation to each other or to theset in a particular scene.

character: The personality or partportrayed by an actor on stage.

conflict: The opposition of peopleor forces which causes the playsrising action.

dramatic irony:A dramatictechnique used by a writer inwhich a character is unaware ofsomething the audience knows.

genre: Literally, kind or type.In literary terms, genre refers tothe main types of literary form,

principally comedy and tragedy.It can also refer to forms that aremore specific to a given historicalera, such as the revenge tragedy,or to more specific sub-genresof tragedy and comedy such asthe comedy of manners, farce orsocial drama.

motivation: The situation ormood which initiates an action.Actors often look for theirmotivation when they try to

dissect how a character thinks oracts.

props: Items carried on stageby an actor to represent objectsmentioned in or implied by thescript. Sometimes the propsare actual, sometimes they aremanufactured in the theatre shop.

proscenium stage: There isusually a front curtain on aproscenium stage. The audienceviews the play from the frontthrough a frame called theproscenium arch. In this scenario,all audience members have thesame view of the actors.

set: The physical world createdon stage in which the action ofthe play takes place.setting: The environment in whicha play takes place. It may includethe historical period as well as thephysical space.

stage areas: The stage is dividedinto areas to help the director tonote where action will take place.

Upstageis the area furthestfrom the audience. Downstageis the area closest to theaudience. Center stagedefinesthe middle of the playingspace. Stage leftis the actorsleft as he faces the audience.Stage rightis the actors rightas he faces the audience.

theme: The overarching messageor main idea of a literary or

dramatic work. A recurring idea ina play or story.

thrust stage: A stage that jutsout into the audience seatingarea so that patrons are seatedon three sides. In this scenario,audience members see the playfrom varying viewpoints. A NoiseWithin features a thrust stage.

About Theatre Arts

Theatre VocabularyThese terms will be included in pre- and post-performance discussionsat A Noise Within.

Being an AudienceMember

Today, movies and televisiontake audiences away fromwhat was oncethe number one form ofentertainment: going to thetheatre. But attending a liveperformance is still one ofthe most thrilling and activeforms of spending time.In a theatre, observers arecatapulted into the action,especially at an intimatevenue like A Noise Within,whose thrust stage reachesout into the audience andwhose actors can see, hear,and feel the response of thecrowd. Although playhousesin the past could sometimesbe rowdy, participating inthe performance by givingrespect and attention to

the actors is the mostappropriate behavior ata theatrical performancetoday. Shouting out (or evenwhispering) can be heardthroughout the auditorium,as can rustling paper orringing phones.

After A Noise Withinsperformance of Crime andPunishment, you will havethe opportunity to discuss

the plays content and stylewith the performing artistsand directors. You maywish to remind students toobserve the performancecarefully or to compilequestions ahead of timeso they are prepared toparticipate in the discussion.


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A NOISE WITHINS MISSIONis toproduce the great works of worlddrama in rotating repertory,with a company of professional,

classically- trained actors. A NoiseWithineducates the public throughcomprehensive outreach efforts andconservatory training programs thatfoster a deeper understanding andappreciation of historys greatestplays and playwrights.

As the only company in southernCalifornia working in the repertorytradition (rotating productions usinga resident ensemble of professional,trained artists), A Noise Within

is dedicated solely to producingclassical literature from authors suchas Shakespeare, Molire, Ibsen,Shaw, and Euripides.

The company was formed in 1991by founders Geoff Elliott and JuliaRodriguez-Elliott, both of whomwere classically trained at theacclaimed American ConservatoryTheatre in San Francisco. Theyenvisioned A Noise Withinafterrecognizing a lack of professional,classical productions and educationin Southern California and soughtout and assembled their owncompany of actors to meet theneed. All of A Noise Withinsresident artists have been classically

trained, and many hold Master ofFine Arts degrees from some of thenations most respected institutions,such as Juilliard, Yale, and the

American Conservatory Theatre.

In its fourteen-year history, ANoise Withinhas garnered over500 awards and commendations,including the Los Angeles DramaCritics Circles revered PollyWarfield Award for Excellence andthe coveted Margaret HartfordAward for Sustained Excellence.

In 2004, A Noise Withinaccepted aninvitation to collaborate with

the Los Angeles Philharmonicfor a tandem performance of AMidsummer Nights Dreamat theHollywood Bowl.

More than 25,000 individualsattend productions at A NoiseWithin, annually, and betweenperformances at the theatre andtouring productions, the companydraws 13,000 student participantsto its arts education programsevery year. Students benefit fromin-school workshops, conservatorytraining, and an internship program,as well as subsidized tickets tomatinee and evening performances,discussions with artists, and statestandards-compliant study guides.

Study Guide Credits

Written by Samantha Starr

Production Photography by Craig Schwartz

Graphic Design by Christopher Komuro

Geoff Elliott & Julia Rodriguez-Elliott, Artistic DirectorsAdministrative Office: 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale, CA 91204Administration: Tel 818.240.0910 / FAX 818.240.0826Website: www.anoisewithin.orgBox Office: 818 240 0910 ext 1

About A Noise Within

Californias Home for the Classics

Study GuidesA Noise Within createsCalifornia standards-compliant study guides to

help educators preparetheir students for theirvisit to our theatre. Studyguides are available at noextra cost to downloadthrough our website: www.anoisewithin.org. All of theinformation and activitiesoutlined in these guidesare designed to work incompliance with Visualand Performing Arts,English Language, andother subject standards asset forth by the state ofCalifornia.Study guides includebackground information onthe plays and playwrights,historical context, textualanalysis, in-depth discussionof A Noise Withins artisticinterpretation of the work,interviews with directors

and designers, as wellas discussion points andsuggested classroomactivities. Guides from pastseasons are also available todownload from the website.

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