Breakneck ‘Brothers’: Whew!

Bringing “The Brothers Karamazov” to the stage is a daunting -- some might say impossible -- undertaking, yet that hasn’t deterred Circle X Theatre Company from an ambitious adaptation that succeeds beyond expectation, though not without compromises.

Anthony Clarvoe’s script gets many things right -- most important, distilling the key dramatic arcs from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s sprawling 800-page novel of lust, greed, murder, suffering and redemption in 1880s Russia.

Like many of his contemporaries, Dostoevsky spun his tales for serial publication; his intricately constructed, episodic installments sustained a dramatic intensity that kept readers tuning in, but they risk overload in a single viewing. Unfolding with impressive clarity and focus, the plot here is easy to follow, though the breakneck succession of climaxes and cliffhangers sacrifices some subplots that modulate the tone and flesh out the people (most of the peripheral love stories, courtroom dramatics and the “Grand Inquisitor” allegory are notable casualties).

Differentiating characters by physical type, director John Langs’ casting is impeccable in nearly every case, and viewers will find it easier to focus on the very astute performances rather than memorizing names to keep track of who’s who. Dostoevsky divided the human soul into three parts, each embodied in one of the Karamazov siblings: passion in the gaunt, headstrong soldier Dmitri (Paul Witten); reason in the intellectual Ivan (Colin Doty); and faith in the sweetly devout monk Alyosha (Max Faugno). Their buffoonish father (John Getz) personifies the ugliest aspects of all three -- lechery, cunning and greed.

Two women vying for Dmitri’s heart are similarly polarized: the refined, saintly aristocrat (Jamey Hood) and earthy sensualist (Rebecca Avery).

Only the obsequious servant (Doug Sutherland) falls short in two respects: not enough contempt underlying his fawning, and a ham-fisted overemphasis of his possible lineage as a Karamazov brother.

The well-crafted dialogue (mostly Clarvoe’s invention) is a bit modernized but stays true to the characters and invests them with much-needed specificity for their condensed stage portrayals.

High production values make excellent use of Circle X’s new home at [Inside] the Ford, but dress warmly -- there’s a touch of Siberia in there.

-- Philip Brandes

“The Brothers Karamazov,” [Inside] the Ford at the Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays; dark Dec. 22 through Jan. 1. Ends Jan. 15. $20. (213) 804-5491 or www.circlextheatre.org. Running time: 2 hours, 35 minutes.

*

And she gave birth to her firstborn ...

Strains of holiday teleplay give way to original charm in the Andak Stage Company presentation of “A Magic Christmas” at New Place Theatre Center. Indeed, the heartfelt whiff of Hallmark that accompanies Dakin Matthews’ affable Lake Tahoe update of Luke 2:1-14 often accounts for its gentle appeal.

Playwright Matthews (“The Prince of L.A.”) brings warm humor and insight to this second “NorthStar Trilogy” offering. Booked at a magic convention in late December, professional East Coast magician Harry Shepard (John DeMita, double-cast with Lance Guest), his former partners Angelo (Martin Ferrero) and Nick (Ralph Drischell), and Harry’s ex-wife, Angela (Julia Fletcher, alternating with Meeghan Holaway), arrive at a timeshare owned by the enigmatic NorthStar outfit.

Their apparent housekeeping staff is Jose and Maria Santos (Federico Patino and Maegan McConnell), very young, happily servile and, in Maria’s case, extremely pregnant. Past and present wounds surface to fuel the Nativity narrative, which clicks into gear after federal agents Harold King (James Andrews, who alternates with sound designer Andrew Matthews) and Innocente “Babe” Slaughter (set designer Terry Evans) come calling.

Although he could edit some exposition and lose the intermission, Matthews thoughtfully stacks his symbolic deck and hauls it home. Director Anne McNaughton and the serviceable designers keep things suitably simple, while the resilient cast carries each sleight-of-hand angle and posada motif into witty bas-relief against our homeland insecurities and thirst for belief.

Various flu-season symptoms and substitutions at the reviewed performance made everyone’s steady professionalism seem doubly admirable. Who says the world is beyond wonder?

-- David C. Nichols

“A Magic Christmas,” New Place Theatre Center, 4900 N. Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Ends Jan. 8. $18. (818) 506-8462. Running time: 1 hour, 45 minutes.

*

To ‘Jerusalem’ on a spiritual quest

A vacation in the Holy Land begets unexpected metaphysical consequences for an agnostic psychiatrist-in-training and his wife’s dysfunctional family in Seth Greenland’s “Jerusalem,” from NoHo’s Open at the Top Theatre Company.

There’s a thoughtful, heartfelt play about faith and spiritual quests buried somewhere in Greenland’s seriocomedy, but considerable rework is needed to bring it to light.

For aspiring shrink Will Soloman -- an assimilated Jew who shrugs off religion as a yearning to explain the unexplainable -- things get off to an inconvenient start when a patient commits suicide. A holiday visit with his wife’s narrow-minded Midwestern family only adds to his alienation.

In the second act, when the couple seek to heal their marital tensions with a trip to Israel, the obnoxious in-laws invite themselves along. Life-changing insights and revelations ensue.

James J. Mellon’s nicely paced staging sports different casts on alternate weekends, so performance quality will vary. But opening-week standouts were Melanie Ewbank as the ditsy-but-bossy sister-in-law and Jay Willick as a pair of wise Middle East natives, one an Orthodox Jew and the other an Arab.

Greenland tends to overindulge his penchant for sitcom-y punch lines, especially in the first act’s formulaic, predictable and tedious “home for the holidays” scenario. It’s not until the second half that the play finds its voice and message -- so why not cut to the chase? The entire first act past the opening scene is a rambling detour that could safely be tossed -- with careful scripting, all the relationships could be established in an additional scene or two at the start of the Jerusalem pilgrimage.

Willingness to accept magic realism would still be necessary, but the reduced demands on our patience would be most welcome.

-- P.B.

“Jerusalem,” NoHo Arts Center, 11136 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood. 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Jan. 8. $20 and $25. (818) 508-7101, Ext. 5. Running time: 2 hours, 40 minutes.