What I’ve learnt about adapting a book for the stage
Hi all
It’s a bit of an exciting time for The Twenty Seven Club. Not only has it hit more than 2,500 sales within its first year of publication, but we’re currently gearing up for a stage version of the play which will be taking place at Live Theatre in Newcastle very soon (I’ll announce dates and also details of how to view the filmed version if you’re not local to the North East in the coming days).
It’s been a real learning curve for me, knowing my characters and story inside out and seeing how it can be adapted into a stage play. When I applied for a Live Theatre bursary I knew I wouldn’t be able to do it on my own - I might have worked in theatre for many years during my career, but being part of the marketing team is very different from being part of the creative team.
It was for this reason that I applied for the bursary in partnership with my husband, Chris Connel, an actor who’s been involved in countless theatre productions taking him from Newcastle to London’s National Theatre to the Broadway stage with Manhattan Theatre Club (alongside many more UK theatres, TV shows, films and radio plays).
Chris is the core writer of the stage play of The Twenty Seven Club but I’ve been involved in the process, and it’s been a real eye opener learning how much of the book can be carried onto the stage. So, here are a few things I’ve learned…
1. You have to say goodbye to some of your characters
When you write a book, you’re kind of limitless in terms of your characters, scenes and settings. The reader takes the words from the page and re-imagines them in their mind - and there are no boundaries. It’s a little different with a stage show, because there are practicalities and budgets to be considered. Unless you’ve got an endless budget to cast twenty or so characters, you’re going to need to wave goodbye to some of them.
With that in mind, we had to consider the core themes and relationships within the story, and strip everything back to that. For me, this meant saying goodbye to Emma’s love interest, John, because, although in the book he was key, the big relationship for me is Emma’s friendship with Dave. I’ve also said goodbye to Doreen, and a whole host of other characters from the book’s settings including those we meet at The Angel and Emma’s place of work. For the third character, we decided we needed Tel, Emma’s dad to play a pivotal role, because the core of the story is about Emma’s anxiety stemming from childhood experiences (no spoilers for those who haven’t read it), so Tel had to be there too. Sadly, Trevor the dog would have been quite the challenge to introduce on the stage, so we’ve played it safe there!
2. However, you can use interesting theatre techniques to bring in other characters…
My first job in theatre was with Hull Truck which at the time had legendary playwright John Godber at the helm. John is famous for plays using a very physical style of theatre and comedy, and simple sets and, while it’s an absolute delight to witness these clever techniques as an audience member, it also gives you a practical solution to the restrictions of cast numbers.
One of John’s most famous plays, Bouncers, often uses a simple set of beer barrels on a stage. It has a cast of four, usually all male, all dressed as club doormen, taking you on a night on the town.
The bouncers tell the tale, using changes in body language and voice to introduce all the lads and lasses you might meet on a Saturday night. It’s genius. Luckily, Chris has lots of experience working in this kind of physical multi-role playing (and he toured with Bouncers specifically a few years back) so knows how to bring to life a night in The Angel pub, or Emma and Dave trying out a new club without the need for more actors. There are also unseen characters that help to bring the play to life, for example, incidental characters being heard off set in voice only. Unseen characters, however, are also used in some theatre and TV shows as core characters (think of Kerry’s mum in This Country!)
3. Exposition is your biggest enemy
In a book, you can use as much description as you like to tell a story - particularly in the first person where you can have a character reminiscing, for example, or use a stream of consciousness style. However, on stage, it’s a dialogue only approach, and there’s nothing worse than seeing two characters telling each other things that they already know simply to impart knowledge to the audience (e.g. ‘remember when we got married?’ Or trying to wedge a joke in by saying ‘you’ll never guess what happened to me on the way here’ rather than showing it physically). When reading the script version of your book, you have to remember that stage direction and actor portrayal will do a lot of the work for you - so if you don’t see it in the words, you will still be able to see it in an actor’s facial expression or tone of voice, for example.
4. As the author, you have to learn not to be too precious…
It was always going to be interesting working in partnership with my husband (how many couples work together?! If so, you’ll know what I’m saying!) and, thankfully, we are still married despite the odd heated debate about the play! However, as the book’s author, while I have had a lot of involvement in the script’s development, I have to remember (sometimes begrudgingly!) that the playwright has to have the freedom to flex their creative muscle. New scenes will be introduced, because you have to convey so much more in a shorter space of time, so key stories and character developments need to be summarised in a different way for the stage. It’s also interesting that, as we know with books, readers will imagine characters and settings in all kinds of unique ways, as will the playwright! But seeing your characters in new scenes is actually quite a joy - you’re getting more value out of them and they’re living on in new ways!
So it’s been quite the journey, and I really can’t wait to see it brought to life on the stage. All details will be announced over the coming week or so on Live Theatre’s website, so keep your eyes peeled!
If you’d like to order a copy of The Twenty Seven Club book, you can order from any of the following: