Adaptations for Professional Theatres

“The history of theatre is a history of adaptation – in the West, the Ancient Greeks based their drama on history and mythology, the Romans adapted from them and every other culture they encountered, the medieval Christian theatre consisted of adaptations of the Bible, and of course William Shakespeare was influenced by all of the above. In the United States, theatrical adaptation is also a vital contributor to the history of popular culture. From Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Ben-Hur to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, many of our most well-known stories have been retold for the stage.” – Adapturgy by dramaturg and professor Jane Barnette

Below, discover adaptations that are perfect for professional theatres, from ensemble versions of ancient myths to contemporary interpretations of 18th-century novels to contemporary response plays that reimagine “canonical” plays from the perspective of women.

Based on… Agatha Christie’s novels

The Mirror Crack’d by Agatha Christie, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 4m)
In 1960s England, in the sleepy village of St. Mary Mead, a glamorous American film star has bought the Manor House. Miss Jane Marple, confined to a chair after an accident, wonders if life has passed her by. When a vicious murder occurs, Miss Marple must unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger. According to The Guardian, this version “bursts into high-octane action and never stops… There is an intelligent exploration of Christie’s women, from unconventional mothers to motherless daughters” that brings real emotional depth and psychological insight to a thrilling story of revenge and dark secrets.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie and Mark Shanahan (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 4m)
Agatha Christie’s ingenious 1926 novel The Murder Of Roger Ackroyd cemented her reputation as the greatest mystery novelist of all time. The story’s shocking twist ending has thrilled readers for generations and has been called “the best and most cunning solution devised in her storied career.” Now, the landmark novel comes to the stage in a new and fast-moving adaptation by Edgar Award-nominated playwright Mark Shanahan. Filled with colorful characters, outrageous laughter and nail-biting suspense, this Christie classic is sure to leave audiences guessing, gasping and delighting in the case long after the curtain has come down. In this thrilling stage adaptation, the tiny village of King’s Abbot is rocked by scandal when Roger Ackroyd, the wealthiest man in town, is found dead shortly after the apparent suicide of his fiancée. In a secretive household where nothing is as it seems, can the mystery of whodunit be solved before the murderer strikes again?

For more plays by Agatha Christie, visit the article “Play by Play: The Theatrical Works of Agatha Christie.”

Based on… Ancient Fairy Tales, Legends and Mythology

Argonautika by Mary Zimmerman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 9m + ensemble)
In this play, Greek mythology and the story of Jason and the Argonauts transform into a mesmerizing piece of theatre. Bursts of humor and fantastical creatures enrich a story whose characters reveal remarkable complexity. Zimmerman brings to Argonautika her trademark ability to encompass the full range of human experience in a work as entertaining as it is enlightening.

Blacktop Sky by Christina Anderson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 4m)
Set against the backdrop of a restless neighborhood and inspired by the Greek myth Leda and the Swan, this drama examines the intersection of love, violence and seduction. Klass, a homeless, young Black man, sets up residence in the courtyard of the housing project where Ida Peters lives. When a fatal confrontation happens between a local street vendor and the police, Klass and Ida quickly develop a precarious bond against the backdrop of a restless neighborhood.

Journey to the West by Mary Zimmerman and Anthony C. Yu (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 9m + ensemble)
Based on Anthony C. Yu’s translation of the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, this adaptation tells the story of a 7th century monk and his fabled pilgrimage from China to India in search of sacred texts. The original is the story of the mischievous Monkey and his physical and spiritual journey, encountering spirits, gods, demons, mythical creatures and more along the way to enlightenment. Zimmerman’s version mixes whimsy with spiritual weight, combining comedy, adventure and satire in a moving allegory of human perseverance.

Metamorphoses by Mary Zimmerman, based on the myths of Ovid (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 5m + ensemble)
Called by Time the “theater event of the year,” Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses brings Ovid’s tales to stunning visual life. Often (though not necessarily) set in and around a large pool of water onstage, this stunning drama juxtaposes the ancient and the contemporary to reflect the variety and persistence of narrative in the face of inevitable change. Nominated for three Tony Awards including Best Play, Metamorphoses earned Zimmerman a Tony for Best Direction of a Play.

The Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 6w, 10m + ensemble)
This acclaimed adaptation weaves a wonderful tapestry of the ancient tales from One Thousand and One Nights with the threads of magic and spectacle into a rich and poetic testament to the transformational power of storytelling. An ensemble cast embodies the rich culture and history of Scheherazade’s tales of love, lust, comedy and dreams in Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of the classic tales.

The Odyssey by Mary Zimmerman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 8w, 13m + ensemble)
This dramatic adaptation of Homer’s epic myth begins with a modern young woman struggling to understand Robert Fitzgerald’s translation of The Odyssey. A classical muse appears, and the young woman becomes the goddess Athena – a tireless advocate for Odysseus in his struggle to get home. With her trademark twist on classic works, Zimmerman brings to life the story of Odysseus’ ten-year journey home, depicting his encounters with characters such as Circe, the Cyclops, Poseidon, Calypso, the Sirens and others.

The Secret in the Wings by Mary Zimmerman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m + ensemble)
Mary Zimmerman’s The Secret in the Wings adapts a group of lesser-known fairy tales to create a theatrical work that sets their dark mystery against her signature wit and humor. Set in a basement that is also an enchanted forest, the framing story features a child and a frightening babysitter, an ogre with a tail – or is it a tale? As the babysitter reads from a book, the characters in each of the dark, enchanted stories materialize, with each tale averting disaster just as it looms to give way to the next one. As with her other theatrical creations, Zimmerman offers ample opportunity for creative costumes, props, sets and lighting to render the fairy tales in all their elemental and enduring power. Children may enjoy Zimmerman’s fairy tales, but it is adults who will find them the most evocative, fulfilling and visionary.

The White Snake by Mary Zimmerman (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 6w, 5m + ensemble)
Mary Zimmerman re-imagines an ancient Chinese legend in which a snake spirit transforms herself into a beautiful woman in order to experience the human world. Adventuring down her mountainside with her companion, White Snake meets and falls in love with the humble, virtuous Xu Xian. Together, the three friends open a pharmacy, but the remarkable healing powers of White Snake draw the attention of a treacherous monk, Fa Hai. Outraged at the union between a mortal and a snake spirit, Fa Hai takes it upon himself to destroy it. Zimmerman brings to this timeless romance her usual brilliant mix of ingenious stagecraft, song, abundant humor and compassion.

For more shows based on ancient folktales and myths, visit the articles “Plays & Musicals Inspired by Greek Tragedies” and “Folktales Featuring Women.”

Based on… Austen and Brontë

Jane Austen’s Lady Susan by Rob Urbinati (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Jane Austen’s comic novella about a young widow’s brilliant scheming in turn-of-the-19th-century English society comes to life in Rob Urbinati’s delightfully witty stage adaptation. Lady Susan, a young widow, flees London and arrives at the country home of her obliging brother-in-law and his suspicious wife. Soon to come – uninvited – are an eligible suitor, her willful daughter, her chatty confidante and a dimwitted bachelor. Lady Susan schemes, but all does not go according to plan as she and her daughter become rivals for the same man.

Pride & Prejudice (Davies) by Andrew Davies and Jane Austen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 13w, 7m)
Adapted from Andrew Davies’ hit 1995 BBC TV series, this delightful comedy of manners revolves around the tumultuous relationship between Elizabeth Bennet, the lively and mischievous daughter of a gentleman from the country, and Darcy, a wealthy and proud lord. 

The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged by Jessica Bedford, Kathryn MacMillan, Charlotte Northeast, and Meghan Winch (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Come along for a funny, fast-paced romp through the masterpieces of Jane Austen with The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged. Three actors take on all of Austen’s beloved heroines, friends, and love interests – and her incisive social satire – in just 80 minutes. But when they lose a cast member, the two remaining Janeites must teach an understudy about her work. It is a truth universally acknowledged that an audience in possession of high spirits must be in want of a ticket to this big-hearted comedy that will delight Austen fans and newcomers alike.

Underdog: The Other Other Brontë by Sarah Gordon (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w)
Sarah Gordon’s new play is an irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Brontë sisters, and the story of the sibling power dynamics that shaped their uneven rise to fame. Charlotte Brontë has a confession about how one sister became an idol, and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one… Anne. This is not a story about well-behaved women; it is a story about sisters and sisterhood, love and jealousy, support and competition, and the power of words.

For more shows based on Jane Austen and her work, visit the article “All About Austen: Stage Adaptations of Jane Austen Classics.”

Based on… Books!

Crime and Punishment, A Comedy by Gordon Greenberg and Steve Rosen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5 any gender)
Dostoyevsky’s turn-of-the-century masterpiece is reimagined as a 90-minute romp of a morality tale with five actors playing over 50 zany characters. Riffing on the famous novel – and all of Russian literature – this classic story follows Raskolnikov, an impoverished student who becomes a murderer to save his family. Based on the book you didn’t actually read in high school, this is literature retold as you’ve never seen it before.

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Isaac Gómez and Erika L. Sánchez (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
As she grieves the death of her older sister, Júlia Reyes faces pressure to put her own dreams of becoming a writer on hold. She finds herself caught between her family’s expectations and the less-than-perfect life she grapples with every day as a 15-year-old growing up in Chicago. This remarkable stage adaptation of the bestselling YA novel is a rich and poignant exploration of how to transcend your circumstances while remaining true to who you are.

Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 5w, 5m, 6 any gender)
This award-winning electropop opera is based on a scandalous slice of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Young and impulsive, Natasha Rostova arrives in Moscow to await the return of her fiancé from the front lines. When she falls under the spell of the roguish Anatole, it is up to Pierre, a family friend in the middle of an existential crisis, to pick up the pieces of her shattered reputation.

Native Son by Nambi E. Kelley and Richard Wright (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m)
Richard Wright’s iconic novel about oppression, freedom and justice comes to life onstage in this groundbreaking adaptation. Suffocating in rat-infested poverty on the South Side of Chicago in the 1930s, 20-year-old Bigger Thomas struggles to find a place for himself in a world whose prejudice has shut him out. After taking a job in a wealthy white man’s house, Bigger unwittingly unleashes a series of events that violently and irrevocably seal his fate.

Somewhere Over the Border by Brian Quijada (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 3m)
Inspired by the real-life journey of the author’s mother, Reina Quijada, from El Salvador to the US, and by L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, this contemporary musical embraces the factual and the fantastical in its depiction of one young girl’s pursuit of the American dream. As Reina travels north to the Mexican border, she gathers friends, faces down dangers, and holds tight to the memory of the little boy she left behind.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder and David Greenspan (US)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 4m)
A stage adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from five-time Obie Award-winning actor and playwright David Greenspan, this quiet masterpiece is a lyrical fable of fate about five 18th-century Peruvian villagers who fall to their deaths from a collapsing bridge. Told with just eight actors, this richly multifaceted tale is a dazzling rumination on the nature of love.

Treasure Island by Mary Zimmerman and Robert Louis Stevenson (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 1w, 11m + ensemble)
Adventure beckons! Armed with only his wits against a dastardly crew of cutthroat pirates, young innkeeper’s son Jim Hawkins sets sail with the larger-than-life Long John Silver and a crew of swashbuckling rogues as Treasure Island explodes like a cannon ball onto the stage. Thrill-seekers of all ages will find inventive adaptor Zimmerman’s version of the classic pirate tale both epic and intimate, hilarious and harrowing.

For more shows based on literature, visit “Shows for Book Lovers.”

Based on… Film & Television

Twelve Angry Men: A Musical by Michael Holland, David Simpatico and Reginald Rose (US/UK)
(Full-Length Musical, Drama / 12m)
Adapted from the celebrated 1959 teleplay, this riveting, contemporary musical concerns twelve male jurors debating the fate of a young defendant charged with murder. In a small New York City jury room, on “the hottest day of the year,” the twelve men argue, cajole and sympathize as they struggle to reach a verdict. In form, Twelve Angry Men: A Musical is a courtroom drama; in purpose, it’s a crash course in those passages of the U.S. Constitution that promise defendants a fair trial and the presumption of innocence.

For more shows related to television, visit “As Seen on TV: Plays & Musicals Connected to Television.”

Based on… Plays

New Adaptations of Old Plays

A Doll’s House by Amy Herzog, adapted from the play by Henrik Ibsen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3w, 2m)
Amy Herzog’s streamlined adaptation of the Ibsen classic – first performed nearly 150 years earlier – is a vibrant and compelling theatrical experience. A small-town doctor considers himself a proud, upstanding member of his close-knit community. When he discovers a catastrophe that risks the lives of everyone in town, he raises the alarm. But he is shaken to his core when those in power, including his own brother, try not only to silence him, but to destroy him.

An Enemy of the People by Amy Herzog, adapted from the play by Henrik Ibsen (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 7m)
Amy Herzog’s streamlined adaptation of the Ibsen classic – first performed nearly 150 years earlier – is a vibrant and compelling theatrical experience. A small-town doctor considers himself a proud, upstanding member of his close-knit community. When he discovers a catastrophe that risks the lives of everyone in town, he raises the alarm. But he is shaken to his core when those in power, including his own brother, try not only to silence him, but to destroy him.

Creditors by Jen Silverman, adapted from the play by August Strindberg (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 1w, 2m )
In this new Strindberg adaptation by Jen Silverman, Adi, a struggling painter, finds his creative spark reignited by Gustav, a magnetic stranger at an isolated seaside hotel. Their connection is instant and intimate, but what seems like a chance encounter quickly twists into something far darker, as Gustav becomes intrigued by Adi’s wife, the dazzling Tekla. Talk into the night devolves into an intricate web of deception, seduction and revelation, where the lives of all involved may be destroyed or transformed.

Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides and Anne Washburn (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 3 any gender + ensemble)
Anne Washburn’s dynamic rendering of Euripides’ rarely-seen final play returns us to a world where a father is challenged to sacrifice his daughter to appease the gods. This intelligent transadaptation of Iphigenia in Aulis is largely faithful to its source material, with a fresh and irreverent edge. 

Our Town (Bilingual) by Thornton Wilder with translated passages by Michel Hausmann (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 10m)
Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, Our Town depicts the small town of Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, through three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage” and “Death and Eternity.” Thornton Wilder’s iconic, Pulitzer Prize-winning play is reimagined for the 21st century in this new English/Spanish translation. In this bilingual version, Emily and the Webb family speak Spanish at home and English with their neighbors, some of whom also speak Spanish. The Stage Manager, the Gibbs family, and most other characters speak English only. The play’s stage directions are written in English, and an English translation is provided for all dialogue in Spanish.

Our Town (Multilingual) by Thornton Wilder, translated by Nilo Cruz & Jeff Augustin (US)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 7w, 10m)
Described by Edward Albee as “the greatest American play ever written,” Our Town follows the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry and eventually – in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre – die.  In the next step for a play that Wilder conceived from the beginning as a play about everywhere, Our Town is available here for the first time in three languages: English, Spanish and Creole. Infused with layers of culture and community, this new version celebrates Grover’s Corners as an international address.

The Seagull/Woodstock, NY by Thomas Bradshaw and Anton Chekhov (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 4w, 6m)
A group of New York theatre people retreat to a house in the Hudson Valley hoping to get away from it all. Except they can’t seem to escape the ambitions, rivalries and fragile egos that follow them everywhere. Chekhov’s sharp satirical eye for hypocrisy and self-absorption among well-meaning people is given fresh, fun emphasis in this contemporary reworking of a classic. 

Three Sisters (George) by Madeleine George and Anton Chekhov (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 5w, 8m)
A new translation of Chekhov’s classic play about big souls trapped in tiny boxes. Stuck in the Russian countryside at the turn of the 20th century, sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina dream of futures in the wake of their father’s death amidst a changing world. 

Uncle Vanya by Heidi Schreck, translated and adapted from the play by Anton Chekhov (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w, 5m)
Sonia and her uncle, Vanya, have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation. When her father and his charismatic wife move in, lives are upended. In the heat of the summer, the wrong people fall in love, desires and resentments erupt, and family is forced to reckon with the ghosts of their unlived lives. A hit on Broadway starring Steve Carell, Heidi Schreck’s gorgeous, contemporary translation of Chekhov’s enduring masterpiece is refreshingly funny, deeply moving and strikingly immediate.

Inspired by the “Canon” – Reimaginings from the Women’s Perspective

A Woman Among Women by Julia May Jonas (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 7w, 2m)
It’s Cleo’s backyard, Roy’s back in town, and Christine’s brought information. I mean, basil. A Woman Among Women riffs on Arthur Miller’s All My Sons (US/UK), challenging audiences to participate in the making of a tragic hero, experience her Aristotelian fall from grace, and interrogate the meaning of collective catharsis. A Woman Among Women is part of Jonas’ All Long True American Stories, a cycle of five “response plays” that reimagine canonical 20th-century male-experience plays as they’d be lived by other people, mostly women.

Becky Nurse of Salem by Sarah Ruhl (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 4w, 3m)
Out of work and out of love, Becky Nurse is an ordinary but strong-willed grandmother just trying to get by in post-Obama America. She’s also the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Rebecca Nurse, from Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (US/UK),  who was infamously executed for witchcraft in 1692 – but things have changed for women since then, haven’t they? Desperate to raise her troubled teenaged granddaughter right, and also hook up with an old flame, Becky visits a local witch for help. But those spells and potions don’t work out exactly as planned.

Problems Between Sisters by Julia May Jonas (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Drama / 4w)
Two pregnant sisters – one visual artist, one con artist – converge on a remote family cabin in Vermont. Jess, the visual artist, races to finish her long-awaited solo show; Rory, the con artist, sees a new audience for her latest scam. When Rory hatches a plan for an art project of her own, the problems between the sisters flare into a collision of family baggage, personal morality and artistic taste. A genderswapped riff on Sam Shepard’s True West (US), a surreal psychodrama about brothers with problems, Problems Between Sisters is a funny and savage take on domestication, creativity and the elusive demands of the Primal Female. Problems Between Sisters is another play in Jonas’ All Long True American Stories, a cycle of five “response plays” that reimagine canonical 20th-century male-experience plays as they’d be lived by other people, mostly women.

Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 2w, 1m)
Acclaimed playwright Eleanor Burgess brings her gift for sharp dialogue and spirited debate to this fascinating new play. When a devoted housewife – from the classic American drama Death of a Salesman (US/UK) – tracks down the woman who is sleeping with her husband, the two discover that they have more in common than society would like them to believe. Important questions of marriage, duty and happiness rise to the surface in this frank exposé of the ways in which the world has, and hasn’t, changed across generations.

Based on… Shakespeare

Fat Ham by James Ijames (US/UK)
(Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy / 3w, 4m)
Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames reinvents Shakespeare’s masterpiece with his new drama, a delectable comic tragedy. Juicy is a queer, Southern college kid, already grappling with some serious questions of identity, when the ghost of his father shows up in their backyard, demanding that Juicy avenge his murder. It feels like a familiar story to Juicy, well-versed in Hamlet’s woes. What’s different is Juicy himself, a sensitive and self-aware young Black man trying to break the cycles of trauma and violence in service of his own liberation. From an uproarious family barbecue emerges a compelling examination of love and loss, pain and joy

For more shows inspired by Shakespeare, visit “The Play’s the Thing: Shows Inspired by Shakespeare.”

For more great plays and musicals for Professional Theatres, visit the Concord Theatricals website.