Following May's sold-out online Playing with Prose workshops, we are now staging a second series, open to university students - join us for a series of virtual sessions held over four days, where students will explore ways of adapting novels for the stage and have the opportunity to write their own short plays and have them performed by actors.
Led by actor Jack Tarlton (Outlander, 8 Days: To the Moon and Back, The Imitation Game)
Adapting novels for the stage
Reading a novel and watching an adaptation of that novel in the theatre are two very distinct experiences. The first is private, the reader using their own imagination fuelled by the writer's words; the second is communal and collaborative. But both are imaginative acts that move us and make us think in a variety of ways.
Why adapt a book for the stage and how do we adapt a book for the stage?
Jack's workshops draw on his experience of creating and performing in a variety of plays based on novels at leading theatres including the National Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith and Sheffield's Crucible Theatre, as well as the highly successful workshops he has led at the University of Oxford, East 15 Acting School, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and the University of Buenos Aires.
In this virtual version of Playing with Prose, Jack will lead a series of online workshops (accessed via Zoom) on Tuesday 28, Wednesday 29 and Friday 31 July, culminating in a read-through of new work created during the workshops on Tuesday 4 August.
Feedback from participants in our May workshops:
"This was my first experience as a student of an online course and the long-distance interaction has had nothing less than the ‘real thing’ except for the time shared at meals when you attend a course of this sort on site! I am incredibly grateful to Jack and the actors who staged our plays in the last class, and to the other students, for one of the best learning experiences I had in my life. At times like these, it is really something to be cherished."Programme
Tuesday 28 July: 10am-12:30 (BST): Coram Boy | 1:30-4pm: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
Wednesday 29 July: 10am-12:30 (BST): City of Glass
Friday 31 July: 10am-12:30 (BST): The Death of Ivan Ilych
Tuesday 4 August: 10am-12:30 and 1:30-4pm (BST): Sharing of completed scripts and read-through by actors
The workshops will draw on Jack's unique perspective of having collaborated on and played lead roles in the original productions of Coram Boy, City of Glass and The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
The workshops are suitable for university students from any discipline with an interest in creative writing, performance, presentation and language skills, and for those keen to explore ways of transforming ideas from one medium into another. It will be very helpful if students are able to read the four short texts before the workshops.
Playing with Prose is free to attend but places are limited to 20 participants, so booking is essential.
Organised by the Institute of Modern Languages Research. It is part of the Open World Research Initiative (OWRI) Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community, Translingual Strand.
Photo credit: Claudia Marinaro