How could we bring Off the Page to life?

Naomi and I are both Associate Lecturers at Lancaster University pursuing Creative Writing PhD’s (Naomi has completed the program and is now Dr. Naomi). The University seemed like the perfect place to launch our initiative. Enter Karen Juers Munby, Director of the Theater Department. Karen’s enthusiasm, personality and experience made her a perfect fit to lead student actors through rehearsals and to an engaging workshop experience.

The first Off the Page workshop included two prose pieces and several poems and offered the writers the opportunity to see performers bring their characters to life. The performances were moving and lively from versions of Mary to multi-faceted characters, from youth to the future; the first performance had a range of topics and genres.

After the workshop, facilitated by Naomi and I, the discussion allowed writers to ask actors about some of the creative decisions and allowed actors to ask writers about their visions of the pieces. The discussion offered all of us insight and perspective into how performers translate text and how text lends itself to interpretation and translation.

We are preparing to host the next Off the Page event as part of Authors in the World on March 12.

I’m looking forward to another night of chills as actors bring characters off the page and in to life.