Theater Review: Anna Karenina

This adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel stands as the most remarkable production in the relatively new tenure of the Denver Center Theatre Company’s artistic director, Chris Coleman. About nine years ago, he asked Kevin McKeon—whose adaptation of Snow Falling on Cedars impressed Coleman (who had helped with the script and later directed the production)—to consider adapting Anna Karenina, another complex and lengthy tale. Two years later, in 2012, Coleman directed the world premiere of McKeon’s new script at Portland Center Stage, where he was artistic director.

Coleman’s substitution of the usual Shakespearean mainstage winter production with this script proves to be a prescient choice. Many literati consider Anna Karenina to be the greatest novel ever written, and in McKeon’s adaptation we certainly see why they would feel this way. Using a technique developed by Paul Sills in the 1970s called Story Theatre, McKeon employs a variety of characters to deliver key narrative passages, which economically provide all the necessary context for the dialogue; together, the narration and dialogue deliver a powerful catharsis fully equal to the novel.

Full review at Colorado Drama

 

 

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