Dostoyevsky @ Citizens

This September sees Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment explode into the Citizens Theatre. Written for the stage by Chris Hannan, and directed by Dominic Hill, this tragic exploration of murder, guilt, desperation, and morality is due to go on tour after its Glasgow premiere.

It is strangely fitting that the Citz is putting on a work so ambitious and so dark. In the climate of this economic downturn, distrust, social anxiety, and desperation are reaching their all time high, which sets a terrifyingly accurate context for the pressures that Raskolnikov feels at the beginning of the novel. 23, living in a small flat, hungry, poor, he murders a moneylender and pawnbroker for money. 

A nail-biting thriller, this tale is complemented by another Dostoyevsky creation, Notes from the Underground, directed by Debbie Hannan. Reminiscent of Moliere's Misanthrope and resounding in the voice of Gregory from Kafka's Metamorphosis, the main character is a bitter man who lives underground (hence often known as the Underground Man). Essentially a hateful monologue that is a mixture of memories, thoughts on life and philosophy, it is performed in the intimate setting of a studio, where there is no escape, and the audience has no stage as a barrier to hide behind. [Eric Karoulla]