Adapted and Translated by Thomas F. Rogers
(Can be produced by Professional, College/University, Community and High School groups.)
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT focuses on the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Raskolnikov, an impoverished ex-student in St. Petersburg who formulates and executes a plan to kill an unscrupulous pawnbroker for her cash. He argues that with the pawnbroker’s money he can perform good deeds to counterbalance the crime while ridding the world of a worthless vermin. He also commits the murder to test his own hypothesis that some people are naturally capable of such things and even have the right to so behave. Several times throughout the novel, Raskolnikov justifies his actions by comparing himself with Napoleon Bonaparte, believing that murder is permissible in pursuit of a higher purpose. Although not a playwright, Dostoevsky has been cited as having “the greatest natural dramatic temperament since Shakespeare.” Originally titled THE DRUNKARDS, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT is the first of four masterful nineteenth-century novels that unprecedentedly explore social issues which beset humankind to this day, including child abuse and the mistreatment of women. These classic works are also deeply religious, treating the psychological turmoil and spiritual yearning of flawed, often rebellious human beings (crime and PUNISHMENT, THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV) and the nature of God himself (THE IDIOT, THE DEVILS)). After the fall of the Soviet Union, Dostoevsky was canonized as a Saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT has been cited as one of the world’s great detective novels, whose mystery is not the perpetrator’s identity (which is known from the outset), but, more intriguingly, the protagonist’s very own search for the motive of his crimes.
PLAY DETAILS:
- Roles for 27M 14F can be doubled to 6 actors and 4 actresses.
- Composite setting of several interiors and exteriors.
- 2 hours
- Order #3105
Available for immediate production!
PERUSAL COPIES
- The PERUSAL PAGES file for Crime & Punishment will be available by clicking Crime & Punishment PERUSAL The PDF file is the first act of the play and all other pertinent information about the play.
- This and other plays by Thomas F. Rogers may be read in the new publication: The Plays of Thomas F. Rogers Volume 1 : Perestroika and Glasnost (the FIVE plays included are: Charades, Crime and Punishment, God’s Fools, The Idiot, and The Second Priest. You can purchase the five play volume HERE for $16.00 (saving $3.99 off the list price) and getting to read five of Tom Rogers’ plays about Russia before, during and after Communism. Introduction by Bob Nelson of the Theatre Department at the University of Utah.
- Volume 2 of The Plays of Thomas F. Rogers : Personal Journeys, is also available containing SEVEN titles: Frére Lawrence, Gentle Barbarian, The Immortal, The Seagull, Siegfried Idyll, The Wager, and A Good Man Is Hard To Find (a short play), all dealing with personal struggles, choice, accountability and consequences. Introduction by Tim Slover of the Theatre Department at the University of Utah.
- EMAIL us for rights and information. Be sure to give us anticipated performance dates and the address of your group and, if different, your theatre. Please also include a contact name and phone number.
PURCHASE REHEARSAL MATERIALS:
(Any PDF purchased will be emailed to your email address — if you need to provide that to us (not the one on your PayPal account?), email us. CDs will be mailed to a snail mail address. Do not purchase rehearsal materials or pay for royalties until you have performance clearance.)
- Script in PDF format — Order #3105a : $20.00 (from which you will be authorized to copy for your production)
- First Performance Amateur/Educational Royalty — Order #3105d : $70
- Second Performance Amateur/Educational Royalty — Order #3105e : $60
- Professional Royalties will be quoted upon application
PRODUCTIONS
- Brigham Young University — 1990
-
from the original BYU production in 1989-1990
BILLING CREDITS
The following is how the credits should read in all programs, posters, fliers, handbills and other promotional advertising for the show:
Crime and Punishment
A translation and adaptation of the Fyodor M. Dostoyevsky novel
by
Thomas F. Rogers
NOTE: The names of the Playwright(s), Composer, Lyricist, and Bookwriter shall be equal in size, type, coloring, boldness, and prominence. No billing shall appear in type larger or more prominent than the billing to the Authors except for the title of the play. (In a press release all type, will of course, be the same size.)
ALSO:
THIS NOTICE MUST APPEAR IN ALL PROGRAMS, ON ALL POSTERS AND PUBLICITY MATERIALS AND INTERNET ADVERTISING/WEBPAGES FOR THE PLAY:
“Crime & Punishment is presented through special arrangement with Leicester Bay Theatricals. All authorized materials are also supplied by LBT, www.leicesterbaytheatricals.com”
From the Catalog of
