Review: Crime and Punishment (HOME)

Review by Jack McCabe

⭐️⭐️⭐️

With only three performers and a 750‑page novel to tackle, Northern Broadsides open their Manchester run of Crime and Punishment with confidence and ambition. The story follows Raskolnikov, an ex-law student living in poverty in St Petersburg who, through a combination of ideological and personal reasons, commits a terrible crime that sends him on a dark and introspective journey. First published in 1866, does this production do justice to Dostoevsky’s classic, or is it more criminal than compelling?

Dostoevsky’s exploration of guilt, morality, and redemption remains as relevant today as it was 160 years ago, which explains why the novel continues to inspire countless adaptations across stage and screen. This version seems to be a timely production, as ultimately it explored the story of a man who had an elevated sense of self-worth, which led him to believe he was entitled to do things that most people would consider terrible. Is it just me, or does this sound like a recent Netflix documentary? 

I was interested to see Northern Broadsides’ take, particularly curious of how they would pull off a story with over 50 named characters using a cast of just three. I also wanted to see how Artistic Director Laurie Sansom was able to condense a 750-page book into a play which lasted just under 2 hours and 20 minutes. In order to do that, it was inevitable that parts of the story were going to be left out, and other parts were going to attract more focus. This production clearly wanted to focus on the psychology of Raskolnikov together with his uncomfortable relationship with women, leading to the decision to have one actor play the lead while the other two portray all remaining roles.

Sansom had an incredibly difficult task in directing this production, and it was a task that he dealt with, on the whole, well, with only a few inconsistencies. The pacing in the first half felt slightly off, with the production getting off to a slow start and not picking up too much momentum until the interval approaches; however, the latter part of the first half and all of the second half were well-paced, exciting, and engaging. One of the downsides of such a small cast playing so many characters is that it was occasionally hard to follow which actor was playing which character, and although in this production this was relatively rare, it did add a touch of confusion at points. What I could not understand was the decision to have some of the dialogue use pre-recorded voices, which distracted from the otherwise well-maintained intimate setting. These slight criticisms are perhaps inevitable when such a small cast puts on such a large text and should not overshadow what was predominantly an ambitious and successful production.

Connor Curren’s showing as Raskolnikov was gripping, intense, and nuanced. He balanced the character’s intellect and ego with vulnerability and moments of humour to produce a polished performance that allows the audience to feel the emotional turmoil and moral dilemma alongside him throughout the play. There was a necessary depth to him with every gesture, expression, and utterance reflecting the inner conflict and spiralling paranoia throughout. His role was a mammoth one, meaning he was on the stage for almost the entirety of the production, but his energy never faltered, and the audience was engaged throughout.

Trudy Akobeng played six different characters throughout the production, all of whom were hugely different and required her to differentiate between them to avoid confusion. She was required to be funny, strong-willed, vulnerable, and damaged, regularly flitting between each of the characters with little time to prepare her to do so. It was a solid and impressive performance in a series of demanding roles.

Similarly, Niall Costigan played a number of different characters throughout, with the majority of the comic relief being left to him, and it was easy to see why, as he was funny, mischievous, and commanding. He demonstrated versatility by being able to portray the sharp-minded yet patronising Porfiry Petrovich, together with the damaged alcoholic Marmeladov. His performance as Petrovich was a particular highlight, and the scenes featuring him were some of the best scenes in the show. His energy and timing were pitched well, and it was a fine example of a multi-role performance.

Joanne Bernard’s movement direction was a particular highlight of this show, as so many of the scenes and the changes between scenes relied on the cast of three using movement to portray what was happening, which they did in a seamless fashion. That was intrinsically linked with Chris Davey’s lighting design, which relied largely on the actors themselves moving and manoeuvring the lights during and in between scenes. This worked incredibly well, especially during the scenes featuring Raskolnikov alone and the scenes between himself and Chief Inspector Porfiry Petrovich.

Rose Revitt’s set design was equally as important to this production, with a large portion of the play taking place in Raskolnikov’s coffin-like room, reflecting the isolation he felt and, in many ways, his small-mindedness. Set pieces were utilised cleverly to indicate scene changes, and the entirety of the set was well fitted to this studio theatre performance. Apart from the complaint about some pre-recorded dialogue, Philip Pinsky’s composition and sound design were atmospheric, dark, and perfectly pitched to the production.

This production of Crime and Punishment is certainly ambitious, condensing a dense novel into a 2‑hour‑20‑minute show with only three actors is no small feat. Though the cast is strong, the small ensemble occasionally makes the story harder to follow, and the pre‑recorded dialogue feels out of place in such an intimate setting. The pacing dips early on, and the condensation of such a lengthy piece left certain threads unexplored; but gripping performances and strong creative choices ultimately make for a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

Crime and Punishment plays at HOME until 21 March 2026, and continues touring until 4 April 2026. Tickets from https://homemcr.org/whats-on/crime-and-punishment-rs2y

Photos by Andrew Billington