It Needs To Be Revisited

[plumtreeblossom]

I wish there was a widely-available stage adaptation of The Handmaid's Tale, and I wish that lots and lots of theatre companies all across the country were doing it. I wish we could do it, but if we couldn't afford to (that's a lot of costuming), surely ART or the Huntington could do a fantastic job. It's a story that needs to be retold, right now, in this dangerous time to be a woman in America.

There was a tremendously lame movie adaptation (poor Margaret Atwood), as well as a one-woman play adaption and an opera, neither of which I've seen. But perhaps more interesting to me is that there was a BBC radio adaptation that saw production. But I have no idea how one would go about getting a look at that script, let alone how to apply for rights.

But I would totally and completely direct it.


_{from the opera}

Comments

[desireearmfeldt]

Hm, I saw a stage adaptation that was neither one-woman nor an opera, probably 20 or 25 years ago now... I don't remember it having particularly elaborate costumes either. But I also don't have any idea whose adaptation it was or whether it would be readily available.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Quite a long time ago I gave serious consideration to writing to Margaret Atwood or her publisher and asking for permission to write an adaptation myself. But I had no theatre company then and no money, so I knew I probably couldn't mount it and eventually let the idea drop. But perhaps other people had the same idea. It sounds like the production you saw wasn't too long after the book was published. Wish I knew how they did it!

[desireearmfeldt]

Hm, the power of the Internet is not quite sufficient... An article in this newspaper is almost certainly about the production I saw, but it does not say who adapted it or where they got the adaptation.

http://repository01.lib.tufts.edu:8080/fedora/get/tufts:UP029.010.015.00062/bdef:TuftsPDF/getPDF

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, it looks like the director (Bruce Shapiro) wrote the adaptation himself.

*googles him*

And here he is.

Looks like he moved to Australia and is doing awesome things. I bet I could track down his email if he's still at QUT.

[ron_newman]

Here's contact info for that BBC radio production. From what I can tell, it was a 10-part serialization, 15 minutes 3-part serialization, 60 minutes for each episode. That would be pretty long to produce before a live audience.

I'm also finding some references to a totally separate CBC radio production.

[chanaleh.livejournal.com]

If you're starting with an adaptation that's already down to three hours, it is totally feasible to further adapt (i.e. cut) it down to 2.5 hours. It would still be long, yes, but not unmanageably so.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I can see that working. Funny, I was just thinking, if I found a script and proposed it, I would NOT bow to pressure to change the setting location the Boston area. And then I remembered....it's set in Cambridge. *derf*

[marius23.livejournal.com]

KickStarter time? I would totally support such a project!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Um, little too soon for that, I think. I don't even have a script! :-)

[marius23.livejournal.com]

I have faith in this community. :-)

[thespian.livejournal.com]

I *need* to talk to you. I have plans, and reading this, you need to send me mail or something. thespian@sleepingcat.com

[aphrabehn.livejournal.com]

I would A. Kill to be in this and B. support in any way I could making this happen.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I just made this post public, because some ideas are being exchanged in email, and I'd like the LJ conversation to be open to those who aren't on my f'list. This may turn out to be more than just a musing in a post....