By Tyler Ody
PASSION, TRUTH AND REBELLION:
Anna Karenina reimagined for World Premiere production this June.
After the West End success of Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh’s Touching the Void, the theatres join forces once again with Tolstoy’s masterpiece Anna Karenina, in a world premiere production, reimagined for the Bristol Old Vic stage, by writer Lesley Hart and directed by Polina Kalinina (running at Bristol Old Vic from 7-24 Jun).
A heartbreaking story of relationships, marriage, and betrayal, Lesley Hart’s boldly theatrical adaptation brings the language bang up to date and Polina Kalinina’s direction sweeps you up in the breathtaking pace of the story, placing no limits on opulence, decadence and, above all, passion.
“Love robs you of your sanity
mauls your heart
will probably kill you
But without love
there is no point in living”
When her brother’s affair is discovered, Anna Karenina crosses the country by train to help save his marriage. But on her arrival at the station, a charged encounter with a dazzling young cavalry officer sends Anna on a course of action that could destroy her own marriage and tear her life apart. Meanwhile, rejected by his beloved, Kostya Levin vows never to marry. As Anna opens herself up to love, Kostya tries in vain to shut himself off from it. Kindred spirits, Anna and Kostya are torn between desire and duty, sexual and parental love, self and society - and they won’t live a lie.
In a world of fakery, public shaming and patriarchal oppression, they are compelled to live truly – or not at all.
Lindsey Campbell (Winner ‘Best Supporting Female’ OffWestEnd for THE OPEN HOUSE 2019, NTS Medea 2022, TV: Endeavour, River City, Silent Witness) takes on the iconic role of Anna. Playwright Lesley Hart (Sherlock Holmes - A Study in Lipstick, Ketchup and Blood, World Domination, Role Shift) and director Polina Kalinina collaborate on this bold reimagining of Tolstoy’s masterpiece that speaks to the unbridled vigour and immediacy of the original.
Polina commented:
“For us, Anna’s story is about passion, truth, and rebellion. She joins countless other women in history who are punished for not adhering to the rigid roles created for them by the patriarchy. Lesley and I love her because of how hard she tries to live truthfully. She isn’t perfect, she is often a bit of a hot mess express, but that just makes her more gloriously human. Her resistance is ruthlessly punished - in this way Anna prefigures the many modern women who are publicly shamed for perceived moral infractions. And we as a society just love to punish women for being imperfect, while their male counterparts go un-critiqued.”
Lesley commented:
“Polina and I were keen to find an authentic voice for the play, something gutsy, witty, sexy, gritty, rooted in Tolstoy’s original and true to me. We did a lot of work directly from the original text, with Polina sending me raw off-the-page translations as voice notes and me working from the transcripts. It’s a big job claiming such a mighty story for your own, reinventing and reimagining it for the stage, finding a form that works. It’s been daunting but utterly exhilarating to bring my own voice as a playwright to Anna Karenina, and in the process, hopefully untap the kind of raw energy, gutsiness and grit that can sometimes get lost in translation.”
Tickets can be purchased online at www.bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/anna-karenina