Northern Broadsides' Crime and Punishment: A Gripping Three-Person Adaptation
Laurie Sansom's bold decision to stage Fyodor Dostoevsky's landmark novel Crime and Punishment with a cast of three pays off in parts, thanks to compelling performances and an atmosphere of shadowy dread. This production by Northern Broadsides at Cast in Doncaster represents a significant departure for the company, which typically avoids small-scale adaptations, making this studio tour a notable first.
A Bold Theatrical Experiment
Adapting a 750-page literary classic with such economy of means is no small feat. The production's most powerful sequences occur when Connor Curren is alone on stage as Raskolnikov, the murderous antihero who commits a double killing as a twisted thought experiment. Curren delivers a compelling performance, whether portraying sociopathic indifference or fevered regret, allowing the audience to delve into the character's troubled psyche.
Haunted and dishevelled, Curren embodies a delusional philosopher driven by extreme poverty to transform abstract thought into brutal action. Dostoevsky's innovation was to present the crime from the criminal's perspective, and Sansom's adaptation is at its most gripping when it faithfully follows this approach.
Uneven Dramatic Execution
However, the production struggles with consistency. Scenes featuring Curren alongside Trudy Akobeng and Niall Costigan, who both play multiple roles, often feel comparatively small and sketchy. The tension dissipates during lightly drawn exchanges between Raskolnikov and the characters who drift in and out of his life, rarely lingering long enough to establish their own narratives.
These supporting characters are more than mere projections of Raskolnikov's troubled mind but fall short of being fully fledged individuals. They cannot match the chilling horror of a solitary assassin meticulously counting the 730 steps to his murderous act.
Theatrical Resourcefulness and Atmosphere
Despite its dramatic unevenness, the production showcases remarkable theatrical resourcefulness. The actors actively participate in Chris Davey's dynamic lighting design, repositioning angle-poise lamps to evoke the mood of an interrogation room or using handheld flashlights for scenes of shadowy introspection.
Rose Revitt's set features a steep beam through a skylight that casts an icy chill over Raskolnikov's bedsit, where cardboard models of St Petersburg tenements light up floor by floor. Philip Pinsky's soundtrack transitions from pretty keyboard melodies to unsettling rumbles, building an atmosphere of expressionist dread that permeates the performance.
This adaptation of Crime and Punishment remains on tour until 4 April, offering audiences a unique and thought-provoking take on Dostoevsky's classic novel.
