It's an archaeology job...you excavate the play from the novel. Last night I felt as though I had stepped inside a Radio Four show, as I sat listening to Mike Poulton in conversation with Alex Clifton and Bill Hughes. The interview was fascinating, brimming with anecdotes, opinions and knowledge. It was inspiring and encouraging for me to hear Poulton speak from his wealth of experience, as I am a young person and only just starting out in the world of literature and creative arts. (I must admit that I did spend the first twenty minutes trying to figure out who Chekhov was and whether he’s still alive or dead...I can now confirm the truth of the latter. I clearly have a lot to learn!) Helpfully, there is an abundance of ‘tion’ words to assist me in picking out my favourite bits of last night’s conversation... ADAPTATION Poulton is renowned for taking novels and adapting them into plays. I love hearing about behind the scenes jobs in theatre that, when done well, you hardly realise exist; when you’re so absorbed by a play, it’s easy to forget the writing, preparing and goings on outside of the snippet of stage that the audience sees. EXCAVATION One of my favourite moments from the evening was when Poulton explained how his is “an archaeology job...you excavate the play from the novel”. It got me thinking about the process of digging. Though I’m no professional, I imagine that in many ways excavating must be a huge task of brute strength, manual labour and force. And yet, it is also a delicate art form, as you must tenderly ensure that you don’t damage the precious buried treasure. I suppose it’s the same with excavating in novels; you must do it with power and authority to exercise change, while being cautious not to harm the carefully crafted characters and plots that are already embedded in the book. IMAGINATION I really enjoyed the thought, highlighted by Hughes, that when you read a novel or play, you imagine the stage directions and elements of setting just like that. Whereas, when you watch a play in the theatre, suddenly simple things like making it snow become much more problematic to produce. The immediacy, effectiveness, inexpensive nature and ease of imagination must be the envy of theatre directors and designers everywhere. Imagination works even on the lowest budget of all! COLLABORATION Clifton opened the evening with the idea of collaboration. It seems that theatre is very much a collaborative art, in which people work together. Poulton spoke about his love of contrast and how sitting alone in his study writing into the night could become a very solitary existence. “Then suddenly you’re in the theatre, around people, they become like your family and you want to do everything you can to make life easy for them.” The contrast of a lonely study to the busy bustle of the rehearsal room sounds like a perfect combination for creativity! All in all, the interview lifted the curtain on the process of adapting a novel. It really got your mind ticking...which book would you choose to turn into a play?
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AuthorMegan Kate Chester Archives
June 2017
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