When Politics Hits Home

Turgenev lovers, take heed. “Fathers and Sons,” Circle X Theatre’s inaugural production at its newly refurbished complex, the Space, is a voluptuous wallow in a Russian masterwork that delights the senses, despite some rocky patches.

Based on Bernard Isaacs’ translation of the novel, Brian Senter’s adaptation is a respectful distillation with intensely lyrical passages. Senter’s reader’s theater approach successfully retains huge swatches of description, narrated alternately by the characters.

Yet Senter mistakenly incorporates frequent “he saids” and “she saids” into the dialogue. Lines such as “ ‘Well, I’ll tell you,’ answered Bazarov” may have seemed conceptually daring, but in practice they disrupt the conversational flow.

To their combined credit, both Senter and director Michael Jaeger preserve the delicate dichotomies of the novel, which functions as both elegy and comedy of manners. The pivotal character, Bazarov (Michael McColl), a nihilistic young medical student, insists that Mother Russia should be swept clean of all social and religious institutions.

Young Arkady (Bill Harper), Bazarov’s eager acolyte, brings his fanatical friend home for a prolonged visit. Arkady’s father, Nikolai (Richard Augustine), masks his dismay at his son’s radical new associate, but Arkady’s foppish uncle Pavel (the deftly humorous Jim Anzide) clashes violently with the upstart.

Other tangled subplots include Nikolai’s scandalous liaison with a young peasant girl (Linnea Pyne), Arkady’s sweet romance with an impoverished aristocrat (Julia Hamilton), and Bazarov’s hopeless attraction to a wealthy widow (Gwyn Fawcett).

At story’s end, where do our sympathies lie? With the radical Bazarov? With the reactionary Pavel? Or with those meeker souls who remain blithely unaware of the philosophical forces that will soon transform their world? Under Jaeger’s able guidance, the talented actors render each and every character with sympathy and skill.

As Turgenev intended, there are no villains here--and no easy answers.

BE THERE

“Fathers and Sons,” the Space, 7070 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends May 6. $15. (323) 969-9239. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.