How to… Adapt Existing Stories
A workshop with Kendall Feaver
Pop-Up Space, Pier Street
Tickets (£4-8)
Sat 18 July
8.00pm
How to… Adapt Existing Stories
Adaptations can be one of the most common and rewarding parts of a writer's career, and are a key part of the current theatre landscape, which writers are sure to encounter during any long career.
This practical session with Kendall Feaver, whose adaptation for the National Theatre of Noel Streatfield’s Ballet Shoes earned her an Olivier nomination, explores how to balance originality with respect for the existing material.
We'll ask what makes a good story to adapt, how you capture the essence of the source while creating something that feels like your own, and learn how to navigate ensuring classic or dated texts work in the modern day.
This workshop dives deeper into a form which can be both a valuable form of expression and a key part of making a living as a playwright.
This workshop will take place in the pop-up space on Pier Street.
Kendall Feaver
Kendall Feaver is an Olivier-nominated playwright, screenwriter and lyricist and screenwriter, based in London.
Her debut play The Almighty Sometimes won the Judges Award at the 2015 Bruntwood Prize amidst a succession of honours, including Best New Play at the UK Theatre Awards. The play has since been performed extensively around the world. Kendall's subsequent theatre work includes Alma Mater which opened at the Almeida Spring 2024 (directed by Polly Findlay) and her critically acclaimed five-star hit adaptation of Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes at the National Theatre this Christmas; which earned her an Olivier nomination for 'Best New Entertainment/Comedy Play'.
On the screenwriting side, she has written a feature for Pathé about Eleanor Roosevelt for Rupert Goold to direct, and was in the writers room on Becoming Elizbeth 2 for The Forge/Starz.
Kendall is currently under commission to Sonia Friedman Productions, the Roald Dahl Story Co. and Manhattan Theatre Club.
Access
Wheelchair user and companion tickets are available to book through our online box office.
If you have any other access requirements, please add them to the "Access requirements” box at checkout.
The Pop-Up Space on Pier Street includes level access and an accessible toilet. For information about the wider festival, see our Access page.