'Delirium' Distills 'Brothers Karamazov' to a Wild and Furious Ride

EgoPo Classic Theater directors Lane Savadove and Brenna Geffers are known for their unique interpretations of dramatic literature and rare plays. To kick off their current season theme of "Russian Masters" Geffers is directing "Delirium," an adaptation of Dostoyevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" adapted by Edna Walsh, who wrote the 2012 Tony award-winning musical "Once."

A week before Delirium's opening Geffers took a tea break between rehearsals to talk about staging the play and interpreting Russian classics.

"I wanted to do something other than the straight Russian classics. We were coming off a season of plays by women and I was looking at Russian 'futurist' feminist writers... then I read 'Delirium' and this adaptation fascinated me. It's funny and furious and wild about this play that I wanted to tackle," she observed.

The play dramatizes just parts of Dostoyevsky's mammoth novel, with its metaphysical themes, but as title suggests, there will be more than one raucous scene and over the top character moments.

Geffers is a strong ensemble director who routinely uses elements of physical theater, but her approach is always to "establish the physical and psychological world the play is in and the rules of that world. With 'Delirium,' it feels like graffiti on a bathroom at once beautiful, but dirty and aggressive and angry and a venting of fragmented thought to provoke people," Geffers intimated.

The story of Fyodor, a Russian patriarch who could care less about his three sons or his tortured servant (who also may be carrying some Karamazov DNA along with the vodka). Fyodor is played by actor-director Robert Smythe, who created the much-lauded Mum Puppettheatre in Philly for many years.

"I cast Robert because of his acting chops at the center of this," Geffers said. "He brings this bravado and machismo that can turn on a dime to actual danger. It plays with the implications of what 'the patriarch' means... is he a clown or dangerous." How relevant Russian literature continues to be.

The play is a co-presented by Indiana University of Pennsylvania and as alum, Geffers was quick to praise IUP's "great" theater department. "It means so much to me that they co-produced this production. I don't think I would be now working on this level had they not taught me some of the survival skills of hanging in there in the commercial theater. The feeling of independence they instill... to be a self- motivating artist. Not wait for anyone to create the work that you need to make," she explained.

"Delirium" features IUP alumni Chris Anthony, Johnny Smith, who have been in previous EgoPo Productions and Kayla Anthony and Kelly McCaughan making their debuts, as well as EgoPo regulars Ross Beschler and Anthony Crosby.

While rehearsing "Delirium" Geffers adapted Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" for its EgoPo premiere later this season.

Although Geffers loves that theater is a collaborative creative process, she is equally enjoying creating a completely solo project as writing an original script for "Anna Karenina." She has titled it "Anna" and director's eye is already kicking in, she said, since "Tolstoy's writing is so visual. Now EgoPo will have an original adaptation in its repertoire and I thought it was important to have a play in this Russian series that focused on women," she said.

Geffers is on a creative roll as director of EgoPo's highly acclaimed production of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" in 2015 and last spring's brutally surreal adaptation of Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal."

This summer she wrote the opera libretto and directed "Shadow House" in collaboration with four composers and the Philadelphia Opera Collective for the 2016 FringeArts Festival. The opera was staged a historic townhouse built in 1775, with characters in scenes from different eras and performed simultaneously in various parts of the house.

Geffers called conceiving it "three-dimensional directing, I ran around a lot making sure the actors knew they had to be on another floor so the voices and music could overlap in a coherent way. One of the reasons why I love working with Philadelphia Opera Collective is the singers are so willing to play with the rules of their own art form." She was directing "Shadow House" at the same time she was invited to revive her production of "The Hairy Ape" at the revered Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown, where it again received rave reviews, including one in the New York Times.

"Delirium" runs Oct 28-November 13 at The Latvian Society Theater, 531 North 7th St., Philadelphia or visit www.egopo.org OR by phone at 267-273-1414.

"Russian Masters" season continues in January with a cabaret version of Nikolai Gogol's "The Nose" followed by Anton Chekhov's "The Seagull" in February and Geffer's "Anna" in March-April.