On a bare black stage with just a pile of stones at the front edge, a troupe of Russian actors from the Theatre Art Studio has brought to stunning life a story line from Dostoevsky’s masterpiece “The Brothers Karamazov.”

Don’t be discouraged by the running time: 2 hours and 10 minutes, with no intermission, or the presentation of this much-larger-than-life story in Russian. Supertitles are projected on the back wall, even if they seem awfully abbreviated for the torrent of language that spills forth in this story of a group of young Russian schoolboys who torment another boy only to repent and find true compassion.

Alexey Karamazov (Alexandr Koruchekov) here serves as a listening post as Nikolay Ilyitch Snegiryov (Alexey Vertkov), a former captain in the Russian infantry who is struggling to keep his family fed and sheltered, explains why his son Ilyusha (Sergey Pirnyak) has reacted so strongly to Karamazov’s attempt to break up the stone-throwing between Ilyusha and the other boys.

Ilyusha becomes ill, putting even more pressure on the fragile family, but their plight also attracts the compassion of another, slightly older boy, Nikolay Krasotkin (Andrey Shibarshin), who believes himself wise beyond his almost-14 years. Again, Karamazov listens as Krasotkin contemplates the moral and ethical implications of the actions of himself and the other boys.

Despite the extended verbal exposition, “The Boys” is not unrelievedly bleak. Comic relief comes in the form of a dog, wonderfully played by Sergey Abroskin, that Krasotkin takes to Ilyusha during his dying moments.

Director Sergey Zhenovach keeps the exposition speeding along, with enough coiled energy from the cast to maintain suspense. Koruchekov’s Karamazov provides the quiet moral center for the ensemble.

Evgeny Vinogradov’s brilliant lighting highlights the starkness of the Snegiryov family’s situation, while at the same time literally shining hope into the circumstances.