Translating novel to theatre: a case study: Ronald Hugh Morrieson's Predicament

Abstract

Neglected by critics, Ronald Hugh Morrieson's four published novels were lauded by some of New Zealand's prominent literary figures. A survey of Morrieson's life offers a context from which his writing arose. The novels have an eccentric flavour influenced by detective fiction, Boy's Own adventure stories, and Hollywood films. One of his novels, Predicament, relates the rite of passage of fifteen year old Cedric from childhood innocence to an adult world of corruption, specifically the blackmail he is drawn into. The story, set in the 1930s, exposes the darkness lurking under the veneer of convention in a small town. In this thesis I research translation of the novel into a play. Publication of research on adapting a novel into dramatic form has been restricted to studies of specific theatre productions. Film adaptation, however, has been widely examined by such writers as Linda Seger, Robert McKee and George Bluestone. Their studies broadly break down the components to be considered as: structure, treatment of time, treatment of space, use of language, action, and point of view. Inherently each of these components impacts on the translation and development of characters. I suggest these are the same elements that should be considered in adaptation for the stage and study of these publications can lead to the development of an approach. I examine film adaptations of Morrieson's work and existing stage dramatisations of Charles Dickens' novel, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Ian Cross' iconic New Zealand novel, The God Boy. To test my discoveries I led a three week workshop with six actors in which we explored transcribed chapters of the novel and devised scenes and modes of translating the narrative such as incorporating a narrator or monologues direct to audience. In creating a new original I learned that a viable dramatisation must consider the same elements as outlined by the film theorists but there are important differences when applying them to a live theatrical medium. The resulting adaptation forms Part Two of the thesis.