Crime and Punishment staged at Liverpool Playhouse

Starring George Costigan as detective Porfiry, and Adam Best as student Raskolnikov, this production has been adapted by Chris Hannan and is directed by Glasgow Citizens Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill.

The psychological thriller was conceived during Dostoyevsky’s Siberian prison term, and gets inside the mind of starving, destitute student Raskolnikov who commits a brutal double murder. Plagued by guilt and the local magistrate, Raskolnikov’s redemption is offered in the form of Sonya, a downtrodden prostitute.

Hill said: “Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest novels ever written and I’ve always felt that the theatrical characters and gripping plot would make for an exciting stage show. The novel is rarely adapted for the stage and Chris Hannan’s new version will make it fresh and accessible to those who are devoted fans as well as those who never made it cover to cover.”

And speaking about the collaboration between the theatres, Hill added: “Glasgow and Liverpool share so much common ground: the industrial heritage, social history and recent cultural regeneration of both cities and the shared roots and vision between the Citizens and Everyman and Playhouse make us ideal partners to tell this story that pushes against the natural order of society.”

Crime and Punishment will run at Liverpool Playhouse between 1 October-19 October.

– Rebecca Cohen