At first, I flashed back to slogging through Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment: Oh no, not another crazed, babbling Russian! Then David Holman’s surprisingly involving adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s 1835 story — bolstered by Alexander Burns’ clever Quintessence Theatre Group production — swept me away. This pre-Freud exploration of mental disintegration is often funny, but also moving. Daniel Fredrick plays Poprishchin, a frustrated clerk who squabbles with his adoring Finnish maid Tuovi (played with giddy befuddlement by Rachel Brodeur) and writes a diary — which Burns makes into a video blog, screened live on the wall. This twist makes Poprishchin our contemporary, a lonely vlogger screaming into the void. Soon, he’s obsessed with his boss’ daughter, dogs that talk and write and the Spanish crown. Burns’ scenic design, bolstered by John Burkland’s raw lighting, literally fractures and spins as Poprishchin unhinges. Jamison Foreman adds a smart, subtle touch as the omnipresent piano player, providing not only accompaniment but a wordless character witnessing Poprishchin’s slide. What feels like a slow, challenging start pays off harrowingly — as did, finally, Crime and Punishment.
Through March 10, $10-$30, Sedgwick Theater, 7137 Germantown Ave., 877-238-5596, quintessencetheatre.org.
