Anna Karenina review: ‘fluid and febrile’ adaptation of Tolstoy’s classic novel
Lindsey Campbell gives a ‘terrific’ performance in the title role
This entertaining co-production of “Anna Karenina”, which transfers from Edinburgh’s Royal Lyceum Theatre to Bristol Old Vic next month, “began as a dare”, said Fergus Morgan in The Stage. The British-Russian director Polina Kalinina was complaining to the Scottish writer Lesley Hart that Russian literary texts typically “suffered from staidness and staleness in translation”. In response, Hart challenged Kalinina to collaborate with her on a stage adaptation, to put this situation right.
The result is a “fluid and febrile” production that makes frequent use of freeze-frames and flashbacks. Inevitably, much is lost in condensing Tolstoy’s 800-page-plus novel into a two-and-a-half-hour play, but the “central three intertwining love stories are explored with raw, riveting intent” – and there’s a “terrific” performance from Lindsey Campbell in the title role: “fierce yet fragile, vicious yet vulnerable, passionate yet panicky”.
With its “modern Scots inflection” and fiercely feminist slant, this adaptation may not “please purists”, said Joyce McMillan in The Scotsman. But the narrative unfolds with “breathtaking pace and ferocity”, and the production and cast “fairly blaze with a theatrical energy that puts extreme emotion at the heart of the drama, and makes it a visible, living presence”. Hart has done a good job of “isolating the story’s essentials”, said Simon Thompson on What’s on Stage. And Kalinina’s split-screen effect “supercharges the action and allows different scenes to unfold simultaneously”, which helps a long story be told “with speed and fleet-footed narrative edge”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even so, far too much has been lost in “whittling” the novel down into a manageable play, said Allan Radcliffe in The Times. And the use of modern speech does not help. Hearing Dolly, for example, swear at her fly-by-night husband, Stiva, is amusing, “but it sits uneasily with Tolstoy’s depiction of a buttoned-up society where deep feeling and honest expression are kept well hidden”. The play has some “stirring moments”, but “little in the way of nuance or psychological depth”.
Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, until 3 June; Bristol Old Vic, 7-24 June. Rating ****
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
5 ladylike cartoons about women's role in the election
Cartoons Artists take on the political gender gap, Lady Liberty, and more
By The Week US Published
-
The right to die: what can we learn from other countries?
The Explainer A look at the world's assisted dying laws as MPs debate Kim Leadbeater's proposed bill
By The Week Published
-
Volkswagen on the ropes: a crisis of its own making
Talking Point The EV revolution has 'left VW in the proverbial dust'
By The Week UK Published
-
Juror #2: Clint Eastwood's 'cleverly constructed' courtroom drama is 'rock solid'
The Week Recommends Nicholas Hoult stars in 'morally complex' film about a juror on a high-profile murder case
By The Week UK Published
-
Explore a timeless corner of Spain by bike
The Week Recommends Take a 'dawdling route through the back-country' far from the tourism hotspots
By The Week UK Published
-
Saoirse Ronan: how the actress went viral
In the Spotlight The actress dropped a 'chat-icide bomb' on Graham Norton's BBC show
By The Week UK Published
-
Edmund de Waal on this year's Booker Prize shortlist
The Week Recommends The chair of judges details works by Rachel Kushner, Percival Everett and others
By The Week UK Published
-
Griddled salmon and vegetables with miso and melted butter recipe
The Week Recommends Hokkaido comfort food classic with a delicious twist
By The Week UK Published
-
Shattered: Hanif Kureishi's 'inspirational' memoir of accident that left him paralysed
The Week Recommends 'Exhilarating' book is composed of diary entries dictated to his son Carlo
By The Week UK Published
-
Dr. Strangelove: is stage adaptation of iconic film a 'foolish' move?
Talking Point Steve Coogan puts on a dazzling performance in show that falls short of 'the real thing'
By The Week UK Published
-
Small Things Like These: 'stylish' Irish drama 'casts a powerful spell'
The Week Recommends 'Stylish' drama starring Cillian Murphy as a devoted father
By The Week UK Published