Dead or Alive – The Untimely Death Of Fyodor Dostoevsky
Bringing the Russian Steppes to the Welsh Marches, Feral’s first piece of musical theatre took the world’s original whodunnit and turned the audience into accomplice in an ambitious site-specific adaptation of The Brothers Karamazov.
About the work
A playful romp through Feral’s take on The Brothers Karamazov that enlisted the audience as accomplice and made full use of the space in the Hereford library and Booth’s Bookshop.
One by one, the characters were killed off until the audience were invited to fire on the last man standing. Some did, some didn’t. Some hesitated then did it anyway.
Live music and singing served to introduce each ‘chapter’ on this firmly tongue-in-cheek, irreverent take on Dostoevsky and his epic whodunnit. We like to feel he would have approved.
“Another brilliant script from Megan Barker, imaginative staging by Estelle van Warmelo that makes maximum use of a venue with no previous theatrical experience.”
How we made it
Adapting the book was a mammoth task and the rehearsal period was unbelievably short but with a game core cast who played Dostoevsky, the brothers and the key women, a trench-coated squad of community actors who lit the show with angles poises and panache, we made it snow in Hereford Library before transferring it to the Hay Festival.
Performances
Dead or Alive – The Untimely Death Of Fyodor Dostoevsky was performed in May 2012 over a week in Hereford Library then transferred to Booth’s Bookshop in Hay for the duration of the Hay Literary Festival.
“So imaginative! So much fun! It was snowing in the library, I couldn’t believe it!”
Credits
Writers – Megan Barker and Nick Smithers
Director – Estelle van Warmelo
Music – Rab Handleigh and Phil Farr
Filmmaker – Rachel Lambert
Cast – Steve Varnom, Kevin Tillet, Jenny-May While, Alex Evans, Rab Handleigh, Phil Farr, Leoni Linton, Mina Nakamura and the Feral Community Company
Production Manager – Alison Palmer
Stage Manager – Rachel Duthie