Comedy plus Dostoyevsky: Sources for "In the Doghouse"  

by Michael Smith

Although much of the dialogue and many of the situations presented in In the Doghouse are fictional, I consulted several literary and scholarly source materials before and during the writing of the play. For biographical and historical background, I made extensive use of Joseph Frank's Dostovevsky: The Seeds of Revolt and Dostoyevsky: The Years of Ordeal (Princeton, 1976). This was particularly useful for capturing the political and social climate of Russia and was invaluable for the material on the revolutionary Palm-Durov circle and the plot to overthrow the Czar.

Of Dostoyevsky's own writings, I recommend the four "great novels," Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamozov, The Devils and The Idiot, though I primarily used Crime and Punishment (Modern Library, translated by Constance Garnett) for characters and situations. To a lesser extent I used Notes from Underground and the story, "White Nights" (from Great Short Works of Dostoyevsky, Harper and Row, 1968, 145-201). Mostly, these were for tone and for the romantic subplot. Dostoyevsky's House of the Dead assisted me with descriptions of life in the Siberian prison camp although contemporary images from Abu Gharaib understandably filtered in.

For the closing sequence, I borrowed freely from the epilogue to Crime and Punishment and also from a poem of Hafiz, "The Lute Will Beg" ( from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, translated by Daniel Landinsky, Penguin, 235). Two films of Harold Lloyd inspired much of the physical comedy, "Girl Shy" and "Safety Last!" I hope the Great Harold won't mind my theft too much.

Throughout the development period, I benefited from reading and criticism from Jay O'Berski, Tom Marriott, Jeffery Detwiler and the talented community of Little Green Piggies. My humble thanks.

-- Michael

Michael Smith is the author of several plays including "A Mouthfulla Sacco & Vanzetti", "Hurricane Salad", and "Life, Love, Cows" and also the forthcoming "In the Doghouse: The Execution of Dostoyevsky", which will premier with Little Green Pig in January 2007.