The kreutzer sonata leo tolstoy, adapted by ted dykstra
artist note: Ted Dykstra When Andrew Burashko, artistic director of one of my favourite Toronto companies, The Art of Time Ensemble, approached me with the idea of commissioning a dramatic adaptation of a ‘Tolstoy Novella’ entitled The Kreutzer Sonata I was surprised on many fronts. I had never heard of the book, and being a tiny bit of a literary snob, that hurt my pride. I mean, Tolstoy for Pete’s sake. Then, too, I had never heard of the Beethoven violin sonata that gives the work its name, and being an even bigger classical music blowhard, my pride was further assaulted. Third was the fact that I was being asked in the first place – rather late in my career to be coming out as an adapter of classics. I was also intimidated to learn that the second half of The Art of Time’s evening would be a performance of James Kudelka’s ballet 15 Heterosexual Duets, performed by the Coleman Lemieux dance company to a live performance of said sonata. Rare company to keep. I read it. Andrew had warned me that it was a relentless ride. And it was. Wow. I wanted to do it. But how, was the question. I had to look at the heart of what was there, and strip it down to that. I also knew only too well that a story, a theatrical story, needs to be moving forward; always. So, I focused on the ‘plot’ elements of Yuri’s story: wife goes on birth control (yeah, in the 1800’s!!!); man loses perceived control of wife; old friend looks up man; old friend and wife play Beethoven together… Keep it simple, stupid! Add to the plot the novella’s inherent ideas about music being a master manipulator, about artistic collaboration being more intimate than sex, and Tolstoy’s belief that Sex is the Fall of Man, and you have what you are about to see. As for the acting part, I try to just let the piece go through me and let it land where it lands. I’m so proud, lucky and happy to be doing this again. I hope it makes you think. I hope I remember all my lines. Heartfelt thanks to Albert Schultz, Soulpepper, and especially Andrew for having the idea and thinking of me.
Ted Dykstra, Director, Adapter & Yuri in The Kreutzer Sonata
photo: john lauener
the Kreutzer sonata leo tolstoy, adapted by ted dykstra
ted dykstra
production
cast
Ted Dykstra director
Ted Dykstra yuri
Lorenzo Savoini Set, lighting & costume designer Andrea Schurman stage manager
Approximate running time 60 minutes.
Russia 1889
background notes “Do not trust your horse in the field or your wife in the house.” The idea that eventually became this powerful novella first came to Tolstoy in the 1860’s but he never did anything with it, perhaps because he was working on War and Peace at the time. The 1870’s were taken up with Anna Karenina so it wasn’t until 1888, when there was an amateur performance of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata at his home that Tolstoy recalled his long ago idea for a story. By then the youthful reprobate had become a middle-aged radical Christian. The former avid visitor to brothels now advocated chastity as the cure for most, if not all, of the ills of mankind. As writer G.K. Chesterton put it: “Tolstoy is not content with pitying humanity for its pains… He also pities humanity for its pleasures.” This ferocious, marvellously compressed story is Tolstoy’s passionate argument for sexual abstinence and a compelling portrait of jealous rage. Yuri, the main character – in this adaptation the only character, played by writer/performer Ted Dykstra – asks us to contemplate the question of love. What is it? Is it sexual thrall, the preference for a single person to the exclusion of all others, as popular wisdom would have us believe? According to Yuri, sexual passion is so dangerous, it can lead to despair and even tragedy. His own story illustrates his point. Yuri marries a much younger woman and finds himself consumed by lust for her, something that wracks him with guilt. So when children come and the heat dies down, he is not unhappy. But then. Then! His lovely wife meets a musician and they begin playing music together. She doesn’t hide this from her husband: she and her new friend even play a little concert for Yuri in their home. He is driven crazy by the pleasure he sees on his wife’s face, her abandon to the wild intensity of Beethoven’s music. To him her joy is evidence of only one thing: adultery. The Kreutzer Sonata is a brilliantly selected piece for Tolstoy’s ends. Beethoven’s works are known for their visceral power and violent changes of mood and emotion. It echoes Yuri’s journey from carnal attraction to marital satisfaction to tormenting suspicion. When the Kreutzer Sonata was written in 1803, some people loved it and some couldn’t understand it at all. The same was true eighty years later for Tolstoy’s novella. Many people, including the Orthodox Church, thought it was perverse. Yet Chekhov said of it: “You will hardly find anything as powerful in seriousness of conception and beauty of execution.” Tolstoy’s greatness can be measured by how he takes us right into this man’s twisted, aching heart and even when we don’t agree with him, we somehow, almost against our will, understand him. Ted Dykstra’s exposed, bruised portrayal lays bare the haunted human heart of this great story and the intimacy of the staging honours what Isaiah Berlin called this writer’s greatest power: “No one has ever excelled Tolstoy in expressing the specific flavour, the exact quality of a feeling… the ‘feel’ of a look, a thought, a pang of sentiment, no less than of a specific situation… ” A hundred years after his death, Tolstoy continues to fascinate, thrill and provoke us. Biography Leo Tolstoy was born to a well-known family of old Russian nobility in 1828. After leaving university halfway through his studies, Tolstoy joined the army with his brother and began to write. His two most famous works, War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877), are considered to be masterworks of realist fiction and two of the greatest novels of all time. In the 1870s, Tolstoy developed ascetic viewpoints which led him to preach social reform, moral chastity and pacifism later in life. Many academics and critics consider Tolstoy to be one of the greatest novelists in history.
Background Notes by Associate Artist Paula Wing.
soulpepper production Jacqueline Robertson-Cull
Phil Atfield Geoff Hughes
Kiyomi Hidaka
Natalie Swiercz
sewer
head of hair & makeup
cutters
dresser
Fina MacDonell
Tracy Taylor
Mike Keays
props builder
props buyer
carpenter
soulpepper thanks: Mar-Lyn Lumber Sales Ltd., PRG Toronto, JD International. Soulpepper Theatre Company is an active member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (pact), the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (tapa) and Theatre Ontario, and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Scenic Artists and Set Decorators employed by Soulpepper Theatre Company are represented by Local 828 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
YOUNG CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DISTILLERY HISTORIC DISTRICT