The Gambler a play by Weihsbased on Dostoevsky at Artword Theatre

Back To Artword Productions 2002-2003

In Artword main theatre,
Dec 9, 2002 at 7:30 pm
Admission free

Beggarly Theatre presents
a workshop reading of

The Gambler

a new play by Ronald Weihs
based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
directed by Molly Thom

A story about winning and losing, obsession, greed, status and erotic passion—a gripping, relentless and very contemporary drama. Drawing on the events of his own turbulent history, Dostoevsky wrote the novel in three weeks—it was one of the great gambles of his life. The Gambler: a play-within-a-play about staking everything on the spin of the roulette wheel.

In the cast:
Dan Lett as Fyodor/Alexei
Tracey Ferencz as Polina/Mlle Blanche
Joan Heney as The Grandmother
James Kirchner as The General, Mr Astley, The Count, and The Croupier
Kimwun Perehinec as Anna

Directed and dramaturged by Molly Thom
A Beggarly Theatre Project
Call Beggarly Theatre at 416-979-8995 or
Artword Theatre at 416-408-1146 for more information.

Presented with the support of the Laidlaw Foundation and the Toronto Arts Council

The Gambler is a play-within-a-play--a dramatization of Dostoevsky's famous short novel (1866) about obsession, framed by the real-life story of the great gamble of its creation.
Dostoevsky wrote The Gambler under terrible pressure. Deeply in debt, he had guaranteed to produce a new novel by a next-to-impossible deadline. If he failed to meet the deadline by one day, he would lose the copyright to his entire body of work. Out of desperation, he hired a young stenographer and dictated the text to her. He had three weeks to go. The novel is told in the first person and deals with two interlocking obsessions: Alexei's obsessive passion for a young woman named Polina, and his developing and finally overwhelming obsession with gambling, Dostoevsky was himself a gambler, and he was infatuated with a woman named Polina.

		In Artword main theatre, Dec 9, 2002 at 7:30 pm Admission free Beggarly Theatre presents a workshop reading of *The Gambler* a new play by Ronald Weihs based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky directed by Molly Thom A story about winning and losing, obsession, greed, status and erotic passion—a gripping, relentless and very contemporary drama. Drawing on the events of his own turbulent history, Dostoevsky wrote the novel in three weeks—it was one of the great gambles of his life. *The Gambler*: a play-within-a-play about staking everything on the spin of the roulette wheel.
	In the cast: Dan Lett as Fyodor/Alexei Tracey Ferencz as Polina/Mlle Blanche Joan Heney as The Grandmother James Kirchner as The General, Mr Astley, The Count, and The Croupier Kimwun Perehinec as Anna Directed and dramaturged by Molly Thom A Beggarly Theatre Project Call Beggarly Theatre at 416-979-8995 or Artword Theatre at 416-408-1146 for more information. Presented with the support of the Laidlaw Foundation and the Toronto Arts Council

The Gambler is a play-within-a-play--a dramatization of Dostoevsky's famous short novel (1866) about obsession, framed by the real-life story of the great gamble of its creation. Dostoevsky wrote The Gambler under terrible pressure. Deeply in debt, he had guaranteed to produce a new novel by a next-to-impossible deadline. If he failed to meet the deadline by one day, he would lose the copyright to his entire body of work. Out of desperation, he hired a young stenographer and dictated the text to her. He had three weeks to go. The novel is told in the first person and deals with two interlocking obsessions: Alexei's obsessive passion for a young woman named Polina, and his developing and finally overwhelming obsession with gambling, Dostoevsky was himself a gambler, and he was infatuated with a woman named Polina.