Everyone says that Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" is one of the world's great novels. But hardly anyone has read the entire book. Well, it's been reduced to a mere 90 minutes, moves at the speed of a NASCAR racer and practically sucked all the air out of the Rep Studio Theatre when it opened a two-week run last night. It's a powerful adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus, stripped to its bare, brutal bones, then orchestrated brilliantly with set, costumes and lights teaming with three fine actors to come at you with the stomach-churning intensity of a Bob Gibson fast ball.
Gianni Downs (set), Garth Dunbar (costumes) and Brian Sidney Bembridge (lights) combine to give this jewel an absolutely perfect setting. Downs uses a palate of grays and browns on a wall made of doors; Dunbar's cloaks and dresses of the same colors are heavy and shapeless, with the only hint of brightness coming from an actress' red hair. We're in a place and with people who have dark pasts and darker futures, live in dim houses and gloomy rooms, chill and damp. A haphazard pile of brown chairs indicates disorganization and confusion. A small window snaps open and a head pops out; in a 1920s comedy, someone would say, "Joe sent me." Here, a Bembridge lamp suddenly brings light like a halo around the face. Tech values help, but character comes from the actors.
Jimmy King is Raskolnikov, Triney Sandoval is Inspector Porfiry and the other men, Amy Landon is Sonia and the other women, living and dead. All are glorious, completely in control no matter their excesses, and Stuart Carden, so strong at the helm of "The Lieutenant of Innishmore" last season, holds everything together to the point where the Russian classic becomes as tense and taut as a Stieg Larsson novel.
King, his long, narrow face perfect as the Russian student, is a terrific Raskolnikov, straining like a butterfly on an entomologist's pin but his ego always leading him deeper into Porfiry's never-ending series of traps. Sandoval's mobile, highly expressive face exudes cool confidence. He's a patient stalker, even without DNA or blood samples, or a lab to bring him forensic evidence.
Landon, in a real departure from her appearance here as Annie Sullivan in "The Miracle
Worker," a year ago, handles a number of roles with ease, strong as the prostitute, stronger as the mysterious pawnbroker.
Campbell and Columbus have produced a remarkable piece of theater, cutting the original, immense novel into 90 workable minutes without losing the book's core, and the talented Rep cast and outstanding technical work have made it into a fascinating drama.
"Crime and Punishment," a Rep Studio Theatre production at the Loretto-Hilton Center through March 28
–Joe