Writing Adaptations and Translations for the Stage: A Guide and Workbook for New and Experienced Writers

Writing Adaptations and Translations for the Stage is a practical guide for writing adapted works for theatrical performance.

Broadway translator and dramaturg Allison Horsley and award-winning playwright and educator Jacqueline Goldfinger take readers step-by-step through the brainstorming, writing, revision, and performance processes for translations and adaptations. The book includes lectures, case studies, writing exercises, and advice from top theater professionals on the process of creating, pitching, and producing adaptations and translations, covering a wide range of topics such as jukebox musicals, Shakespeare adaptations, plays from novels, theater for young adults, and theater in translation and using Indigenous language. Artists who share their wisdom in this book include: Des McAnuff (Tony Award), Emily Mann (Tony Award), Dominique Morisseau (Broadway Adaptor, Tony Award nominee, MacArthur Genius Fellow), Lisa Peterson (Obie Award, Lortel Award), Sarah Ruhl (Broadway Playwright, Tony Award nominee, Pulitzer Prize finalist, MacArthur Genius Fellow), and Tina Satter (Broadway Director, Obie Award, Guggenheim Fellowship). The book also features interviews with artists working both in the US and internationally, as well as guest columns from artists who work in less traditional adaptive forms including cabaret, burlesque, opera, community-engaged process, and commercial theater.

Writing Adaptations and Translations for the Stage is an essential resource for students and instructors of Dramatic Writing, Playwriting, and Creative Writing courses and for aspiring playwrights.

Jacqueline Goldfinger is an award-winning playwright, dramaturg, and librettist who has adapted a wide variety of material for the stage, including Madeleine L’Engle’s classic A Wind in the Door for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. She is also the author of Playwriting with Purpose (Routledge 2021). She received her MFA from the University of Southern California. For more information, visit www.jacquelinegoldfinger.com.

Allison Horsley is a Broadway dramaturg and translator who has also worked on U.S. Regional Stages and Internationally, including on the Broadway and West End hit Jersey Boys. She received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. For more information, visit www.allisonhorsley.com.