THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV: BUILDING HEAVEN

A staged-reading

Directed by Lukas Brasherfons, created and conceived by the 2024 SYT Lab

November 25th, 2024, 6 PM, at the Waring Jones Theater in The Playwrights' Center

This year's SYT Lab has used as its basis Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov, often referred to as the greatest novel ever written. The SYT Lab takes a piece of non-Shakespeare writing and subjects it to theatrical scrutiny and analysis in order to create a uniquely dramatic product out of a non-dramatic item.

At the heart of The Brothers Karamazov, a classic novel of Russian literature about a murder within a dysfunctional family, stand two titanic chapters that rise outside the confines of their narrative: "The Grand Inquisitor" and "The Russian Monk." The first imagines Jesus returning to earth at the height of the Spanish Inquisition, and the second details the death-bed wisdom of a priest who has devoted his life to faith. Taken together, they probe the emotional reality of religious belief, and imagine the afterlife in terms of psychological reality.

The SYT Lab has created the first-draft of a theatrical piece centered around these two chapters of Dostoyevsky's writing, and used the individual talents of the Lab members to enrich the theatrical creation in ways found through a process of devising over the course of the semester. 

Join the SYT Lab for this unique staged-reading, and be prepared to dive into the deepest, most fundamental reasons as to why humans make art, and how we psychologically construct Heaven.

NOTE: This staged-reading will run 90 minutes, with no intermission, and contain mature themes and langauge.

The Waring Jones Theater is located at The Playwrights' Center, 2301 E Franklin Ave, Minneapolis, MN 55406 (enter through the Franklin Ave entrance)

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

THE TEMPEST

Directed by Lukas Brasherfons

Betrayed by his brother and cast down from his dukedom, the exiled magician Prospero takes comfort in his sorcery and the presence of his daughter on a remote, enchanted island, until one day his chance at payback finally arrives. The story of a widowed single father who happens to have incredible supernatural powers, The Tempest takes us on an astonishing revenge saga that somehow ends in joy.

Peforming July 18 - August 2, 2025 at the Crane Theater. 

Running time: 2.5 hours, including intermission. 

The Crane Theater is located at 2303 Kennedy St NE UNIT 120, Minneapolis, MN 55413 (behind the yellow door).