The critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Dostoyevsky's novel The Karamazov Brothers  won on Nov. 30 Italy's Ubu Prize, the most important Italian theatre award. The show was staged in the 1997-98 season at Rome's Teatro Argentina by Luca Ronconi, one of the most acclaimed directors both at national and international level, who was recently appointed director of Milan's Piccolo Teatro.

Ubu prizes are awarded every year in Milan by a commission of Italian theatre critics chaired by Franco Quadri.

Many were surprised, however, that none of last season's top 20 theatre shows -- musicals such as the first Italian productions of Grease  or Seven Brides for Seven Brothers , or popular revivals such as Feydeau's La dame de chez Maxim -- received any nomination or prize from Ubu's commissioners, which preferred to choose shows that enjoyed limited runs, often in front of small audiences.

Here is a summary of the major awards presented last Monday at Milan's Piccolo Teatro by comedian Paolo Rossi:

BEST SHOW: I fratelli Karamazov. BEST ACTOR: Gianrico Tedeschi (Il Riformatore del mondo ).

BEST ACTRESS: Isa Danieli (Luparella ).

BEST DIRECTOR: Federico Tiezzi (Scene da Amleto ).

BEST SET DESIGN: Maurizio Balò (Orgia ).

BEST PLAYWRIGHT: Antonio Tarantino (Teatralogia delle cure ).

BEST FOREIGN SHOW: Eimuntas Nekrosius' Hamletas.

--By Stefano Curti
Italy Correspondent