Saturday, March 2, 2024
This intensive one-day class with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright James Ijames offers a unique opportunity to explore the process of adapting classic stories into fresh and compelling original plays. Participants will learn how Ijames, (who wrote FAT HAM, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s HAMLET) faces the challenge of sourcing from, interpreting, and reckoning with the merits and limits of the literary canon.
Through a combination of lecture, interactive discussion, and lively Q&A, you will gain insights into the art of adaptation, discovering the keys to crafting narratives that captivate audiences while challenging and redefining the core themes in the source material.
By the end of the session, you will have new tools and tricks to support your own adaptations of classic literature. Recommended for the experienced writer seeking to elevate their work to new heights, this class promises to be an inspiring and transformative experience.
Date: March 2
Time: 12:00-3:00pm EST
Location: ZOOM
Price: $175
JAMES IJAMES is a Pulitzer Prize winning and Tony Award nominated playwright, a director and educator.
James’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon, Wilma Theatre, Theatre Exile, Azuka Theatre (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre, JACK, The Public Theater (NYC), Hudson Valley Shakespeare Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre, Definition Theatre, Timeline Theater (Chicago IL) Shotgun Players (Berkeley, CA) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright’s Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre and Victory Garden.
James is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size with Simpatico Theatre Company and Gem of the Ocean with Arden Theatre. James is a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for ….Miz Martha, a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award, a 2019 Kesselring Prize for Kill Move Paradise, a 2020 and 2022 Steinberg Prize, the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Drama recipient and a 2023 Tony nominee for Best Play for Fat Ham. James was a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective. He received a B.A. in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA and a M.F.A. in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. James an Associate Professor of Theatre at Villanova University. He resides in South Philadelphia.
