“Anna Karenina” reviewed by Carol Moore

 Recommended **** There are 864 pages in Leo Tolstoy’s novel, “Anna Karenina”, so I had to wonder how anyone could adapt it into a 2 or 2 ½ hour stage play.  I also knew that if anyone could do it, it would be the folks at Lifeline Theatre, since that’s what they do.  Time after time!  Jessica Wright Buha’s adaptation is dramatic, intelligent, true to the story and very stage-worthy.  I really enjoyed it.  4 Spotlights

It’s been my observation that in many classic Russian novels – think Tolstoy’s other masterpiece, “War and Peace”; Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment” or “The Brothers Karamazov”; Pasternak’s “Doctor Zhivago” – the writers often use 40 words to express a sentiment that could be done in 4. 

I’ve read all of them during my college years when I had the time to read, and I’ve also noticed that as a rule, Russian characters are brooding, moody and depressed, and consistently indulge in inexplicable and/or incomprehensible behavior.  “Anna Karenina” fits right in.  In fact, the story begins with this sentence, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way”.

Anna (Ilse Zacharias), actually Countess Anna Arkadvevna Karenina, lives in St. Petersburg with her much-older husband, Karenin (Michael Reyes).  She is sad because she has to leave her beloved son, Seryohza, at home while she goes to Moscow to help her brother, Stiva (Dan Cobbler) clean up his mess.  He had an affair and his wife Dolly (Aneisa Hicks) is furious.

On the train, Anna meets Countess Vronskaya (Gay Glenn), who brags about her handsome son, Vronsky (Eric Gerard), who flirts with Anna as soon as the Countess introduces them at the Moscow station.  Soon after, Anna introduced to Moscow society by Princess Betsy (Lindsey Dorcus), a leader of the wealthy, younger set, and Vronsky’s cousin.

Meanwhile Stiva’s friend, (Dan Granata), who prefers to live on his estate in the country, comes to Moscow to propose to Dolly’s sister, Kitty (Brandi Lee).  She turns him down because she’s positive Count Vronsky will be proposing soon.  At the ball that night, Vronsky snubs Kitty, dancing only with Anna.

Vronsky and Anna start a torrid affair, which lasts until her husband arrives to take her home.  Although she is pregnant with Vronsky’s child, she goes home with Karenin at the end of Act I.  This is the end of the plot summary.  Anything more would require a spoiler alert!

Things I really liked about Lifeline’s “Anna Karenina”:

• The relative brevity of the language (within Russian parameters, of course)
• The characters speak for themselves
• The characters are moody, brooding, depressed and unhappy
• The characters do indulge in inexplicable and/or incomprehensible behavior
• Anna’s son, Seryohza, is a lifelike puppet, skillfully manipulated by Michele Stine.
• The way the company uses every inch of space on the bare-bones stage.
• Copies of the novel are on sale in the lobby.

“Anna Karenina” runs through April 8^th at Lifeline Theatre, 6912 Glenwood Ave., Chicago.  Free parking with shuttle service to the theater is available at Sullivan High School (6631 N. Bosworth Ave), in the lot located on Greenwood Ave. just south of North Shore Ave.

Running time is 2 hours, 30 minutes, with an intermission.

Performances are :

Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm

Saturdays at 4:00 and 8:00 pm

Sundays at 4:00 pm.

Tickets range from $20-$40.  FYI (773) 761-4477 or www.lifelinetheatre.com.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Anna Karenina”