After the performances “Men and Mice” and “Red Lights”, Vassilis Bisbikis makes a free transfer of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s iconic novel, “Crime and Punishment” (1866), transferring it to Main Stage of the Roof of the Onassis Foundation, as a popular noir in the Athens of 2023.

“Crime and Punishment: Athens”

What constitutes crime and what punishment in Athens in 2023? When exactly is a crime committed? At the moment of the act or at the moment the perpetrator conceives it in his mind? How is the transition from legality to illegality timed? And what is her punishment? Ethical, sociological and philosophical questions are attempted to be investigated by the Cartel Group through a new transcription of the Russian author’s novel, bringing the story, with the method of linear narration, to the present, in the streets and neighborhoods of Athens.

From the March 22 to April 9 the Central Stage of the Roof welcomes a new Raskolnikov, performed by Thodoris Skyftoulis, and together with the rest of the heroes of the play, he seduces us on a journey to the edge of fear. “Life is demonstrably terrifying” monologues the “young” Raskolnikov who goes by the name of Michalis Schizas, a young subject to the rebellions of the heart and mind. “Crime and Punishment: Athens” comes with a troupe of 20 actors to perform in an extremely realistic manner as a popular noir under the direction of Vassilis Bisbikis.

Young law student Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov takes the law into his own hands and murders an old loan shark. Along the way he is overcome by guilt, falls in love with the young prostitute Sonia, is interrogated by the authorities, comes into confrontation with his family and various dark types who pursue him, is tormented by inner demons. How relevant is Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s masterpiece today? And what reductions can be made to today? Live-action filming, gaming, YouTube channels are enlisted in this version, where cameras poke into the most unlikely places to reveal the innermost thoughts of the heroes in the foreground and expose the membranes of their secret lives, turn our gaze to invisible life of objects and to highlight morality and cynicism, darkness and light, the internal battle between reason and emotion, oxidizing remorse and deep goodness.

Dostoyevsky himself states in a letter he sent in 1865 to the editor of the Russian Messenger, trying to persuade him to publish the novel in his magazine: “The novel is a psychographic account of a crime. A young middle-class student living in absolute poverty is expelled from the university. Beneath superficial and weak thoughts, influenced by some “unfinished” ideas floating in the atmosphere, he decides to quickly get out of the predicament he has found himself in by murdering an old woman, usurer and widow of a government employee. […] After the act, the psychological process of the crime unfolds. Questions from which he cannot be freed as a murderer; feelings, which he had not foreseen or suspected, torment his heart. Divine truth and earthly law call upon him to pay the price, and he ultimately feels the obligation to surrender. He feels this obligation, even if it means that he may die in prison, in order to feel like a member of human society again. The feeling of separation and isolation from humanity, nature and the law of truth has its price.”

As the Stegis press release states, in “Crime and Punishment: Athens”, Dostoyevsky’s world meets the modern Western world on stage, at a time when the latter seems to be changing dramatically and being led astray into another -better or worse, no one knows yet- version of him. Whatever its next version, however, these questions will remain alive and relevant. Because they are directly intertwined with human nature. Like the words that fall from the lips of the beloved of the main character: “Can you forget everything and live happily? What weighs you down is inside you. No matter how far you go, you will carry it with you. Peace is like love , not bought””.

The sets are edited by Kenny McLellan, the costumes by Giorgos Segredakis, the animation by Edgen Lame, the lighting by Sakis Birbilis and the cinematography by Philippos Zamidis.

Starring: Lefteris Agouridas, Betty Vakalidou, Cesaris Grouzinis, Janmaz Erdal, Manos Kazamias, Dionysis Kokkotakis, Edgen Lame, Anna Masha, Errika Bigiou, Vassilis Bispikis, Dimitris Papazoglou, Phoebus Papakostas, Natasha Papandreou, Niki Seretis, George Sideris Skyftoulis, Stelios Tiriakidis, Costas Falelakis, Iovi Fragatou, Nicoleta Haratzoglou.

Suitable: 16+