The Gambler review – dizzying Dostoevsky adaptation from Chiten Theatre

Dostoevsky wrote his 1866 novella The Gambler in 30 days to pay off his own gambling debts, and Kyoto-based Chiten Theatre’s adaptation captures that frantic energy. The production is a dizzying, challenging 90 minutes delivered in Japanese at largely break-neck speed, with subtitles vying for attention alongside a spinning set, kooky dancing and a cast that bangs billiard balls on a central table before they speak; the thrashings of onstage rock trio Kukangendai add to the theatrical onslaught.

Itaru Sugiyama’s roulette-wheel set, with the cast sat atop it, is kept spinning not by some hidden mechanism but by the increasingly frenzied pushes of an exhausted Alexei, a neat representation of the thrills and drudgery of gambling addiction. Above, a circle of LEDs glows in series, tracking the roulette ball on which so many fates hang.

Director Motoi Miura abandons naturalism for rhythmic dialogue and highly stylised movements that underline the characters’ financial precarity.

the gambler, dostoevsky, chiten theatre, kyoto, itaru sugiyama, motoi miura, kukangendai, roulette wheel, alexei, gambling addiction