'Europe' packs wallop

DURHAM -- In just two seasons, Durham's Little Green Pig Theatrical Concern has earned a reputation for imaginative adaptations and deconstructions of plays, novels and films. Earlier outings had varying levels of success and excess, but "Europe Central," the company's current production, is its most ambitious and most impressive to date.

Based on William T. Vollmann's epic 2005 novel, "Europe Central" tells the 20th-century histories of Germany's and Russia's authoritarian governments through intertwined stories of real artists and officials. The novel chronicles the moral decisions these individuals make to survive and the consequences that ensue. Vollmann's dreamlike style incorporates huge chunks of historic detail in meandering musings that challenge readers to take it all in.

Little Green Pig's adaptation by playwrights-in-residence John Justice and Michael A. Smith is equally challenging. Stories of more than a dozen characters overlap, and the dialogue is densely laden with facts and information. Still, the horrifying impact of the injustices, evils, sacrifices and compromises comes through chillingly, especially with the production's strong cast.

On the Russian side, Dana Marks gives poet Anna Akhmatova a staunch bravery as she stands up to Greg Hohn's sinister Soviet agent Comrade A., who relentlessly attempts to suppress her truthful poetry. Jeffrey Scott Detwiler is an amazing look-alike for composer Dmitri Shostakovich, whose love of elusive muse Elena (a bewitching Tamara Kissane) is thwarted by documentary filmmaker Roman Karmen (an aggressively hearty Lucius Robinson) and whose uncompromising music keeps him under constant government scrutiny.

On the German side, Dierdre Shipman brings a quiet dignity to beleaguered artist Kathe Kollwitz, who makes an unlikely friend in the crusty East German judge Hilde Benjamin (a terrifyingly intense Dorrie Casey). Meredith Sause achingly embodies the SS officer Kurt Gerstein, who determines to sabotage gas production at the concentration camps, until he is found out by his commanding officer, Capt. Gunther, given sickening indifference by Emma Nadeau. Most impressive of all is Lamont Reed as Hilter, who takes the idea of a black Führer to astonishing places and brings unexpected humor to the grisliest events.

Under Jay O'Berski's inventive direction, the play assumes a nightmarish quality that's enhanced by Marc Maximov's complex sound design of songs, explosions and whispers. Further haunting atmosphere comes from the faux-period newsreels constructed by G. Douglas Vuncannon, Steve Tell's lurid, oppressive lighting, and the eclectically claustrophobic sets from a handful of contributors.

There are flaws. A live cellist (Shana Tucker-Williams) playing throughout competes with the dialogue. A number of songs from the cast (especially the guitar solos by Anna) seem out of place and slows the pace. And the first act is somewhat confusing.

But "Europe Central" builds to a final wallop that is more than its individual parts. One viewing doesn't allow for all the elements to sink in, but it certainly provokes a desire to follow up the history of these individuals and reminds us that freedom takes vigilance and courage.