CRIME AND PUNISHMENT to Extend Run at TUTA Theatre Due to High Demand

TUTA Theatre has announced a six-week extension of its critically acclaimed production of Crime and Punishment, which has regularly sold out the company's 25-seat theater at 4670 N. Manor since opening on May 10.

Following strong audience demand and critical acclaim, the company will continue performances through August 23.

Directed by TUTA Co-Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, the 90-minute adaptation by Marilyn Campbell and Curt Columbus brings Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel to the stage with a three-person cast.

The extension will continue the current Thursday and Saturday evening and Sunday matinee schedule through July 26. Following a one-week hiatus, performances will resume on a Thursday-through-Sunday schedule through August 23.

The original cast will remain with the production throughout the extension, featuring Clifton Frei as Raskolnikov, Huy Nguyen as Porfiry and others, and Felix as Sonia and others.

Originally premiering at Writers Theatre in 2003, Campbell and Columbus' adaptation has been produced more than 100 times across the United States and internationally, with productions at theaters including Berkeley Rep, Intiman Theatre, 59E59 Theaters, Cleveland Play House, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Baltimore Center Stage, and Trinity Rep.

The adaptation condenses the tension and emotional power of Dostoevsky's novel into a focused theatrical experience. The story follows impoverished student Raskolnikov, who believes himself to be above the law and empowered to determine who deserves to live or die. His worldview is challenged when he encounters Inspector Porfiry, a master interrogator determined to force a confession from the increasingly tormented young man.

The New York Times praised the adaptation, writing, "Who would have thought that the novel no high school student has ever finished reading would make such engrossing theater?"

The production's creative team includes Co-Set Designers Tatiana Kahvegian and Keith Parham, who also serves as Lighting Designer. Additional creative team members include Costume Designer Lia Wallfish, Sound Designer Stefanie Senior, Properties Designer and Creative Producer Helen Lattyak, Stage Manager Becky Warner, Dramaturg Milan Pribisic, Assistant Director Letitia Guillaud, Co-Artistic Directors Aileen Wen McGroddy and Jacqueline Stone, and Managing Director Brad Gunter.