American Repertory Theatre
 

The Idiots Karamazov

The Idiots Karamazovby Christopher Durang & Albert Innaurato
directed by Karin Coonrod
set design by Scott Bradley
costume design by Catherine Zuber
light design by Michael Chybowski
sound design by Christopher Walker
music by Petter Golub
music direction by Michael Friedman
stage managed by Anne S. King

Performed in repertory with Ivanov
at the Loeb Drama Center,
December 10, 1999 - January 16, 2000

Cast - Synopsis - Reading List - Reviews/Links

A zany literary cabaret! What would you expect to play in repertory with Ivanov - another esteemed Russian classic? Not quite. When Constance Garnett translates Dostoevsky, the Brothers Karamazov become expert plumbers and Anaïs Nin has Mary Tyrone over for eggshell and mayonnaise sandwiches. Confused? Then you'd better take a course with Professors Durang and Innaurato, who'll puree the whole Western canon before your very eyes. The Idiots Karamazov is a zany literary cabaret that makes Cliff Notes look like high scholarship. You'll be amazed at how many characters are skewered on this wild, irreverent sword.

Running time approximately two hours, including one intermission.

Cast

Constance Garnett, translator

... Thomas Derrah

Ernest, her butler

... Doug Goodenough

Alyosha Karamazov, the monk

... Sean Dugan

Ivan Karamazov, the intellectual

... Jonathan Hova

Dmitri Karamazov, the sensualist

... Antonio Edwards Suarez

Smerdyakov Karamazov, the epileptic

... Boni Alvarez

Fyodor Karamazov, the father

... John Douglas Thompson

Mary Tyrone Karamazov, the mother

... Paula Plum

Father Zossima, the mystic

... Remo Airaldi

Anaïs Nin, a woman of letters

... Karen MacDonald

Djuna Barnes, her secretary

... Mercedes Herrero

Miss Nin's Leather Girls

... Naeemah White-Peppers, Nora Zimmett

Grushenka, a Russian prostitute

... Greta Sanchez Ramirez

Grushenka II

... Faye DeBonis

Altar Boys

... William Cryer, Oliver Poole

Synopsis

Constance Garnett, the doddering British translatrix of the Russian classics, is embarking on her translation of The Brothers Karamazov. Her failing memory and obstinate self-regard make the process difficult, and soon the Russian brothers are joined by a host of characters, literary and real, who can scarcely tell their troikas from their samovars. Soon Mary Tyrone is rubbing shoulders with Anaïs Nin at a monstrous tea party where sexual conventions are abandoned and the politics are revolutionary. The Karamazovs are a mighty clan, but can even they survive the coup de plume when Constance drops her authorial guard and enters the fray herself?

Reading List

  • The Idiots Karamazov, by Christopher Durang and Albert Innaurato, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
  • Also by Christopher Durang:
    • Complete Full-Length Plays 1975-1995, Smith & Kraus, $35
    • 27 Short Plays, Smith & Kraus, $19.95
    • Christopher Durang Explains It All for You; Six Plays, Grove Press, $12.95
    • Baby with the Bathwater, And, Laughing Wild; Two Plays, Grove Press, $10.00
    • More Christopher Durang scripts and rights information can be found on the Dramatists Play Service web site
  • Also by Albert Innaurato:
    • Coming of Age in Soho, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
    • Gemini, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
    • Gus and Al, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
    • Ulysses in Traction, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
    • The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
    • Passione, Dramatists Play Service, $7.60
  • The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett (translator), Signet Books, $7.95
  • Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Constance Garnett (translator), Bantam Books, $5.95
  • Jacob's Room, by Virginia Woolf, Signet Books, $4.95

The Idiots Karamazov

The Idiots Karamazov PosterReviews and Other Links

 

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This page updated March 9, 2000