Anna Karenina (The Abbey Theatre, Dublin) by Leo Tolstoy adapted for the stage by Marina Carr

Poor Anna Karenina.  That is the usual refrain that rings out after one has read the novel or seen the movie(s). Tolstoy's tragic heroine, driven to give up her life of comfort and privilege, her place in society, her child and very nearly her life by her cruel, emotionless husband and the demands of her awakened heart.     

 In Marina Carr's diabolically good version of the story now on stage at The Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Anna is many things but pitiable isn't close to the dominate one.

 Carr's Anna (Lisa Dwan in a fearless performance) is, yes, the good and dutiful wife but she is also sensual, headstrong, vindictive and raw.  Ms. Dwan's Anna is the architect of her own destruction, regardless of the help she receives from a terrific Declan Conlon as an occasionally sympathetic Karenin and a seductive Rory Fleck Byrne as Vronsky.  Ruth McGill shines as Anna's sister-in-law, Dolly and the rest of the large cast (many playing multiple roles) is wonderful.

The staging is, to say the very least, sparse; consisting of a very few pieces of furniture moved on and off the stage by various cast members.  What the absolute lack of scenery does, however, is make the performances the only thing.  This would, perhaps, be risky if the acting weren't so superb.

The music by David Coonan is lovely and dramatic and the pianist moving on and off of the stage works.

The 3 1/2 hours of this performance fly as the interwoven stories of these Russian nobles grabs you by the throat.  No one outshinesTolstoy as the originator of the smart soap opera.

When Anna, overwrought, ends her life on those tracks, it is almost as though she does it more to punish those left behind than because she can no longer bear to live.  Poor Anna, indeed.