Anna Karenina: a riff

By Gwen Kingston

Music by Will Turner, Teresa Lotz, Christie Baugher, and Yan Li

Originally Co-Created and World Premiere Produced by Notch Theatre Company, Directed by Ashley Olive Teague

Based on the Novel by Leo Tolstoy

Russians in track suits play melodicas to an original, folk-punk score in this fresh adaptation of Anna Karenina. Set in 1880s Russia and dripping with Eastern European ennui, this comedic reimagining of the classic tale moves at the speed of a runaway train as it examines the consequences of female rebellion and its echoes today.

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Overview

Type of Show

Acts

Duration

Performance Groups

Flexible

Dance Requirements

Tech Requirements

Flexible

Cast Summary

15+

Casting

  • ANNA - our heroine

    KARENIN - Anna’s husband

    VRONSKY - a Count and a cavalry officer

    DOLLY - mother of six

    STIVA - Dolly’s husband

    KITTY - in love with Vronsky

    LEVIN - in love with Kitty

    VARENKA - a companion

    NIKOLAI - Levin’s brother

    COUNTESS VRONSKY - Vronsky’s mother

    PRINCE SCHERBATSKY - Dolly and Kitty’s father

    BORIS - the Band Leader

    THE BAND - a band

    FEMINIST GUEST - a feminist guest

    BOLSHEVIK - a Bolshevik

Instrumentation

Orchestra Size:

Small

Orchestration for Instruments:

Press

Learn about the process of making Anna Karenina: a riff in this Broadway World interview with the director, writer & composers.

How would you describe the play in one sentence?

Gwen: Please don't make me do that. I got down from 1000 pages to 100 pages. I'm done.

Ashley: A patriarchy spanking?

Will: Quick, dirty, Russian.

Ashley: Ooo yes, it's a Russian joke that goes bad. Very bad. Tragically bad. But then again...you are warned.

“A rollicking, fresh investigation of Tolstoy’s classic novel, bursting with a folk-rock score that pokes and prods at the consequences of female rebellion, bringing bold new questions into an arresting, quasi-contemporary conversation on the role of women in families, communities, and countries. [...] a visceral, scintillating point of view that is a force to be reckoned with as even the best of current day Broadway’s appeal to address modern themes pales in comparison."

- OnStage Blog

About The Authors

Gwen Kingston is a writer and actor hailing from the California Bay Area and living in Brooklyn, NY. She holds BAs in Performance Studies and Linguistics from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. As a playwright she tackles questions of power, privilege and protest with a focus on uncovering untold stories and lifting unheard voices. Her work has been performed at Brown/Trinity, La Mama Studios, White Heron Theatre in Nantucket, Culture Park in Boston, as well as FaultLine Theater and Piano Fight in San Francisco. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times Modern Love column, and her memoir Did I Ever Tell You? released May 2024 has been featured on Good Morning America, on Oprah’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024 list, and by The New York Post as one of their "best new books.”

Notch Theatre Company creates community-responsive cultural work to drive change around the pressing issues of our time, offering communities around the US a platform to tell their stories and be their own change makers. The work engages populations that brick and mortar theaters are not reaching, personalizes important social issues for people on all sides of a conversation, raises awareness in a compelling way, drives change on a national scale, and prompts meaningful, lasting engagement at a grassroots level.  www.notchtheatre.org

Ashley Olive Teague is recipient of the Embark Award for Social Innovation in Entrepreneurship and founding Artistic Director of Notch Theatre. Her plays and partnerships have presented at the Children’s Defense Fund Advocacy Conference, the National Performance Network's Conference, the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture's Creative Strategies for Commemorative Justice Salon, the Ubumuntu Festival in Rwanda, The Appalachia Studies Conference, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Chautauqua Institute, The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center, White Heron Theatre Company, Trinity Repertory Theater, FSU/Asolo Repertory Theatre, Brown University, Amherst College, UNC Chapel Hill, Live@Jacks in Denver, HB Studios, New Ohio Theater,  La Mama Studios  and The Flea Theatre in New York City, among others. Teague worked on such films as Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls, Gus VanSant's Promised Land, and Tina Chism’s Peeples. She has received numerous awards including Broadway World awards for Best Director/Choreographer and Best Musical. Her writing has been published in Bedlam Magazine, in Theater Artists Making Theatre With No Theater, on HowlRound. Current interviews found on Broadway World, Monument Lab and the HB Insight Series

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