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'All happy families are alike. Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.' Across the vast panorama of nineteenth-century Russia, everyone is searching for answers in a society on the brink of collapse. Anna Karenina is risking a dangerous love affair with the magnetic Count Vronsky. Levin is wrestling with his thwarted devotion to Kitty. Kitty's been left broken-hearted by Vronsky, and her sister Dolly struggles to reconcile the burdens of repeated childbearing with her husband's continual philandering. Phillip Breen's witty and sensual stage adaptation of Tolstoy's masterpiece takes us into the hearts and minds of its conflicted, very human characters, and offers a surprisingly funny and deeply moving portrait of infidelity, passion and the search for fulfilment. It was first performed at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2025, directed by Breen and starring Natalie Dormer in the title role.
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Leo Tolstoy
ANNA KARENINA
adapted for the stage by
Phillip Breen
NICK HERN BOOKS
London
www.nickhernbooks.co.uk
Contents
Original Production Details
Acknowledgements
Dedication
Epigraph
Characters
Anna Karenina
About the Authors
Copyright and Performing Rights Information
This adaptation of Anna Karenina was first performed at Chichester Festival Theatre on 7 June 2025. The cast was as follows:
ANNA
Natalie Dormer
KARENIN
Tomiwa Edun
SERYOZHA
Jacob Isaacs, Layla Owens
LEVIN
David Oakes
STIVA
Jonnie Broadbent
DOLLY
Naomi Sheldon
KITTY
Shalisha James-Davis
VRONSKY
Seamus Dillane
NIKOLAI
Ivan Ivashkin
THE PRINCESS SHCHERBATSKYA
Marcia Lecky
THE PRINCE SHCHERBATSKY
John Ramm
COUNTESS VRONSKAYA
Donna Berlin
MARYA
Florence Dobson
AGAFYA
Anne Lacey
PETKA
Les Dennis
TITUS
Riad Richie
COUNTESS LYDIA
Sandy Foster
DOLLY AND STIVA’S CHILDREN
Darcey Cooper, Rosie Cooper, Will Metcalfe, Dylan Paige
All other parts played by members of the company.
MUSICIANS
Musical Director/Piano/Accordion
Kotaro Hata
Violin/Viola
Akillo Ishikawa
Bass
Shin Kawahara
Director
Phillip Breen
Set Designer
Max Jones
Costume Designer
Ruth Hall
Lighting Designer
Anna Watson
Composer
Paddy Cunneen
Sound Designer
Dyfan Jones
Movement Director
Ayse Tashkiran
Fight Director
Renny Krupinski
Wigs, Hair & Make-Up Designer
Susanna Peretz
Casting Director
Helena Palmer CDG
Voice and Dialect Coach
Ben Furey
Assistant Director
Becca Chadder
Production Manager
Kate West
Costume Supervisor
Josie Thomas
Props Supervisor
Kate Margretts
Company Stage Manager
Janet Gautrey
Deputy Stage Manager
Klare Rogers
Assistant Stage Managers
Elle Roberts Charlie Henley-Castleden
Interpreter
Mayuko Kawai
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank for their help (in no particular order):
My friend Justin Audibert, Natalie Dormer, Kathy Bourne and the whole Chichester team, Maki Kato, Hiroko Kaneko, Hana Ishida and everyone at Theatre Cocoon past and present, Kiuchi Hiromasu, Rie Miyazawa, Jiro Katsushiba and the whole Tokyo cast and crew, Junpei and the gang, Yuma Fukami and family, my mother and sisters, Vicky and Laura, Helena Palmer CDG, Freddie Lynch, Mayuko Kawai, Rosamund Bartlett, Prof. Carol Chillington Rutter, Tim Key, Nicky Wingfield, Emma Hands, Dmitrii Bogachev and family, Momoko Aida, Alan and Mary Cox, Eleanor Lloyd OBE, Howard Gooding, Matt Applewhite and everyone at Nick Hern Books.
The A Team: Max Jones, Ruth Hall and Paddy Cunneen for all our adventures.
Special thanks to Charles Holloway OBE for making it possible to bring the Japanese musicians to the UK. Your ongoing support means the world.
And my best one, Eva Rice: spot on as usual.
P.B.
Dedicated to my friend Yoko Tokita
Without whom these dreams would not be possible
‘We have a perfect name for fantasy, realised. That is “nightmare”.’
Slavoj Žižek
Characters
ANNA, late twenties/early thirties
KARENIN, her husband, late thirties
SERYOZHA, their son, eight
LEVIN, a landowner and farmer, thirties
STIVA, Anna’s brother, late thirties
DOLLY, married to Stiva, sister to Kitty, thirties
GRISHA, Stiva and Dolly’s child
TANYA, Stiva and Dolly’s child
KITTY, sister to Dolly, eighteen
PRINCESS SHCHERBATSKYA, Dolly and Kitty’s mother,late fifties
PRINCE SHCHERBATSKY, Dolly and Kitty’s father, sixties
VRONSKY, a soldier, twenty-five
COUNTESS VRONSKAYA, Vronsky’s mother, fifties
NIKOLAI, revolutionary, Levin’s brother, thirties
MARYA, fellow revolutionary and friend to Nikolai, twenties
AGAFYA, housekeeper and former nanny to Levin, lateseventies
PETKA, Levin’s land steward, sixties
COUNTESS LYDIA, a Christian and admirer of Karenin’s,forties
PRINCESS BETSY, a friend of Anna’s
AMBASSADOR’S WIFE, a guest of Betsy’s
AMBASSADOR, a guest of Betsy’s
TITUS, a muzhik
OLD MAN, a muzhik
TUROVTSYN, a guest of the Oblonskys
DOCTOR, attending Anna
NURSE, attending Anna
PRIEST, at Kitty and Levin’s wedding
NANNY, to Seryozha
MIDWIFE, attending Kitty
DOCTOR, attending Kitty
FLOWER-SELLER
A CHORUS
And WAITERS, a GUARD, WORKERS, a DIRIGEUR,an OLDER MAN, a YOUNG MAN, MEN AT HORSE RACE, WOMAN DRESSED AS EVE, a YOUNG MAID, SERVANTS, a PRIEST, a FOOTMAN
Note on Play
The play takes place over three years in numerous locations around Russia in the late 1870s.
Time jumps forward when a new year and season is denoted.
Scenes and images overlap with one another, like in a dream.
This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so maydiffer slightly from the play as performed.
ACT ONE
1.
St Petersburg. Winter. Year One. The nursery at the Kareninhouse. Enter ANNA in her coat, she has just returned home.She regards this familiar space mysteriously, as if seeing it forthe first time. An object gets her attention on the floor centre-stage. A new toy train. She bends down, picks it up and studiesit for a second. Enter SERYOZHA, her young son, followed byhis father, KARENIN . The boy stops in his tracks when he seeshis mother. He looks between his mother and his father, sensingan atmosphere. SERYOZHA snatches the train from his mother.The nursery becomes a scene from ANNA ’s nightmares. Trainsscream. Women scream.
2.
Moscow. One week earlier. STIVA is asleep on a divan fullyclothed holding a large pear. He wakes with a start from hisdream; he beholds his furious, tear-stained wife, DOLLY.She holds an expensive vase.
STIVA. Is this a dream?
DOLLY. No
STIVA. This is happening?
DOLLY. Yes
STIVA. Is that the antique French vase Maman bought us for our anniversary?
DOLLY. Yes
STIVA. Oh God
DOLLY smashes the vase and explodes into a rage.
Dolly!
Darling!
Dol–
What’s all this?
Eh?
DOLLY. WHAT’S ALL THIS?!
GET UP, YOU BASTARD!
WE’RE EXPECTING VISITORS!
ANNA IS COMING TODAY!
STIVA. Yes yes it’s terrible!
I said all this last night!
DOLLY. I always knew you were an animal!
I cannot wait to tell Anna!
I cannot wait to tell your sister what you have done!
STIVA. Yes I know
Terrible
DOLLY. I KNOW!
You don’t want me!
You never want to TOUCH me
STIVA. I do
Definitely
DOLLY. YOU DON’T!
I DISGUST YOU!
SEVEN CHILDREN DOWN!
FIVE LIVING!
YOU’VE WRECKED MY BODY WITH YOUR SCUMBAG LUST!
MY BODY SAGS AND MY HAIR’S THINNED AND IT’S PROBABLY FITTING THAT MY FINGERS ARE SO BONY THAT THE WEDDING RING IS SLIPPING OFF AND NOW YOU TOSS MY LIFELESS CARCASS TO ONE SIDE TO FEAST ON THE GOVERNESS!
STIVA. It was hardly a a a feast
DOLLY. YOU WILL NEVER WANT ME!
AND THIS WILL ONLY EVER BE LIES!
STIVA. I absolutely do want you for sure
DOLLY. I REPULSE YOU!
STIVA. You don’t repulse me
You’re actually gorgeous
DOLLY (reading from a letter). ‘Ma chère, your body has bewitched me, I need to be between your thighs and feel your soft, perfect breasts in my poor, rough hands…’
STIVA. You’ve got to look at the context
DOLLY. Y. A. M.
What does that mean?
Eh?
Y-A-M?!
Answer me!
STIVA (trying not to say ‘You are mine’). Ya-a-a
DOLLY. You
Are
STIVA. Mmmah
I don’t remember
He makes a feeble effort to grab the letter.
DOLLY. Don’t you touch me!
STIVA. I got you a pear
Look
It’s a beauty
She screams and throws the pear at him.
Forget the pear
Literally forget it
One time!
I mean I barely
She barely touched
It meant nothing
It was barely a thing
DOLLY. LIAR!
Don’t talk to me about what you got up to with that WHORE!
STIVA. One moment!
One silly action!
Can’t nine years of a life together atone for one stupid
DOLLY. Ha!
STIVA. It’s a nice life
DOLLY. We’re broke!
STIVA. What about the children
DOLLY. How dare you!
They’re lost to you now!
STIVA. Don’t say that!
DOLLY. She’s probably pregnant!
STIVA. I doubt it
It suddenly occurs to him that she might be. He panics.
Is she?
DOLLY. HAHAHAHA!
STIVA. What’s funny?
DOLLY. Will she get a wet nurse?
The wet nurse my desiccated tits are denied?!
STIVA. Darling
If that’s what you want, you just say the
DOLLY. GET OUT!
He quickly goes to leave.
Where the HELL do you think you’re going?
STIVA. You said
DOLLY. GET BACK HERE!
STIVA. It’s true that it’s not nice that she used to be a governess in our house
That’s low that’s just banal I’m not that
I didn’t think I was that man turns out I am that man and and I’m going through a lot right now and
DOLLY. Don’t you DARE!
STIVA. Absolutely nothing happened while she worked here
I’m not an animal
Oh God
What to do?
I’m guilty!
Punish me
Please
DOLLY. GET OUT!
STIVA. Okay
DOLLY. No!
We’re leaving
STIVA. Not the children
He starts to sob. The CHILDREN are crying in the nextroom. One puts their head round the door.
NOT NOW, GRISHA!
GRISHA leaves, sobbing.
DOLLY. What’s best for them?
Leaving their father?
Or staying with their depraved father?
How can we live together in this FILTH?
TELL ME!
Is it possible?
STIVA. I’m guilty
Don’t punish the children
Punish me
I deserve it
Tell me what to do
I’ll do anything
I’m guilty
Forgive me
I’ll sell the forest
She laughs bitterly.
DOLLY. IT’S MY FOREST!
IT’S MY INHERITANCE!
STIVA. Be that as it may
I’ll buy you nice things
I’ll buy a coat for little Grisha
Talk to Anna
She knows everything
Let it be like it was before
When we were happy
Aren’t we happy?
DOLLY. Happy?
STIVA. Just like any other happy family
DOLLY. All happy families are alike
Each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way
The scream of a train.
3.
A flash of ANNA in a railway carriage hurtling to Moscow.
4.
Moscow. A flashy restaurant. A WAITER takes an order from STIVA, who is sat with LEVIN.
STIVA. Oysters
WAITER. Ostend Flensburg or Utrecht?
STIVA. A dozen of each
Bread and parmesan cheese
A plate of the kasha à la Russe
Beef soup a large tureen
The turbot with Sauce Beaumarchais poularde a l’estragonmacedonie de fruits
And champagne the cachet blanc
WAITER. Very good, your excellency
The WAITER goes to leave. He is called back.
STIVA. And a bottle of the classic Chablis
Just for the table
The thing is, Levin, I’m flat broke
And Dolly’s gone full ‘final scene Greek Tragedy’ on me
Over the governess
And what a governess!
So young so pretty I actually could have loved her
But while she was in the house I didn’t allow myself to –
(Gestures vaguely.)
Nothing happened
Not like
I’m not one of your farm animals
Oysters arrive. STIVA greedily tucks in. Another WAITER brings champagne.
You don’t like oysters?
Concentrate!
LEVIN. I can’t concentrate
I don’t like all
He gestures around him.
This
A champagne cork pops.
I mean
Look at your nails
STIVA. My nails?
LEVIN. In the country we keep our hands ready for work You grow your nails long and stick on saucers instead of cufflinks
STIVA (mouthful of oyster). I’m not in the country
LEVIN. You’re eating oysters two thousand miles from the sea
STIVA. Praise be to our modern railway!
LEVIN. In the country we eat what we slaughter quickly to get on with what we have to do
Here we are trying our best not to be full for as long as possible
STIVA. Surely the point of civilisation is to make everything as enjoyable as possible?
LEVIN. If that’s the point of civilisation I’d rather be wild I’m wild to even be in Moscow
STIVA. You’re wild alright
Maman asked me why you disappeared so suddenly last time
LEVIN. The princess definitely doesn’t want to see me
It’s hopeless
And she won’t want to see you when Dolly tells her what you’ve done
STIVA. Dolly won’t want to upset her mother she’s decent like that
But you’re coming with me to the Shcherbatskys’ tonight?
LEVIN. Uh
STIVA laughs.
What?
STIVA. Kitty
You’re going to…?
We’d be brothers-in-law
How glorious!
It’s all ahead of you
LEVIN. And it’s all behind you?
STIVA. Not behind exactly
Look I love Dolly but she’s getting on
LEVIN. She’s younger than you
STIVA. And I think she’s pregnant
LEVIN. Again?
STIVA. Look
All I’m saying is that you have the future with Kitty
And I the present with Dolly and
LEVIN. And?
STIVA. A bit of this and a bit of that
But I don’t want to talk about me
LEVIN. What if I’m refused?
STIVA. Girls love proposals
Anyway Dolly has spoken to Kitty
LEVIN. And?
STIVA. She’s a remarkable woman my wife
She has great foresight when it comes to matrimony
LEVIN. What did she say?
STIVA. You’ll tell a champion horse by his blah-di-blah thighs
And a young man in love by his sad little eyes
LEVIN. This is life and death for me
KITTY skates quickly, elegantly past the table.
KITTY. Kostya!
LEVIN. Kitty!
KITTY. The ice is excellent put your skates on!
5.
Moscow. Winter. Year One. A few months ago. A frozen lake. KITTY skates towards LEVIN . A handkerchief falls from hermuff. LEVIN picks it up.
KITTY. Thank you
Have you been here long?
LEVIN. No I came yesterday
Um
Today I mean
I’m here to see my brother Nikolai
And
Other things
KITTY. You’re not
LEVIN. I didn’t pack any skates
Um
KITTY. Is it boring in the country?
LEVIN. No
I’m very busy
I didn’t know you skated
And so well
KITTY. There’s a rumour that you’re an excellent skater
LEVIN. I used to be a very passionate skater
But I couldn’t achieve perfection so I
KITTY. It seems you do everything passionately
Have you come for long?
LEVIN. I don’t know
KITTY. Why don’t you know?
LEVIN. Because that depends on you
KITTY smiles and skates off. LEVIN is furious with himself.He attempts to move and slips over.
6.
Moscow. Winter. Year One. Back in the present moment. A partyat the Shcherbatsky house. STIVA hauls LEVIN up from theice. STIVA takes a bowl of champagne from a passing tray. VRONSKY pays court to KITTY.
STIVA. You have a rival
LEVIN. Dozens I imagine
STIVA. Do you know Vronsky?
LEVIN. Why should I?
STIVA. He’s a… count
I got to know him in Tver during my military service
Good bloke
An Imperial aide-de-camp with big connections
Maman is delighted
LEVIN goes to leave.
Wait!
This is why you should resolve the matter now
In another part of the party, the PRINCE and PRINCESS talk aside about LEVIN.
PRINCESS. There’s no comparison
He’s so awkward
No manners
Look at him
He’s too busy with cattle and peasants and his awful brother
He returns again and again to the house of an unmarried woman
And has never explained himself
PRINCE. He has serious intentions
PRINCESS. And visiting with Stiva?
While Dolly’s preparing to leave with the children
What if Vronsky loses patience?
PRINCE. He’s a show pony
Only in it for his own amusement
They make boys like that by machine in Petersburg and turn them out at two kopecks a yard
PRINCESS. Were she to squander a suitor like Vronsky
Everybody will be talking and with good reason
PRINCE. She likes Levin
PRINCESS. I will not be persuaded that the young must now settle their own fate
In the same way that I will not be persuaded that the best toy for a five-year-old is a loaded pistol
The focus shifts elsewhere. To the COUNTESS LYDIA and LEVIN.
LYDIA. Levin!
I see you’ve returned to our depraved Babylon
Has Babylon become better or have you become worse?
LEVIN. My words must have a strong effect on you
Since you remember them with such clarity
LYDIA. Oh absolutely!
I’m gripped by your conversation
You must turn your thrilling story about your annual grain targets into a stage play so the whole of Moscow can enjoy it
The focus is now on KITTY and the PRINCESS.
PRINCESS. My only salvation is that he’s so unattractive you can’t have fallen in love with him
KITTY. He’s not unattractive
Maman, can we please not discuss
PRINCESS. I only want to say
KITTY. Please, Maman
PRINCESS. I only want to say that having given hopes to Count Vronsky
KITTY. Maman, it’s too awful, please don’t speak of it!
PRINCESS. I won’t
But darling
KITTY (tears forming in her eyes).Maman!
KITTY joins the party. The focus shifts. VRONSKY and LEVIN look at one another.
LYDIA. Vronsky!
May I introduce you to Konstantin Dmitrich Levin?
VRONSKY. I believe I was due to have dined with you earlier this winter
But you’d left unexpectedly for the country
LYDIA. He says he can never wait to escape this Sodom and Gomorrah on the Moscow river
LEVIN. My words must have a strong effect on you since you remember them with such clarity
LYDIA. Is there an echo?
LYDIA laughs, LEVIN is embarrassed.
VRONSKY. I suppose your winters must be quite boring
LEVIN. Only if you’re bored with yourself
Another focus shift.
PRINCESS (in an intense sotto voce). The governess, Stiva!
The governess?!
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