PlayMakers Repertory Company has started a new program to engage audience members before the play even opens.
For its next main-stage production, “Nicholas Nickleby,” which is based on the Charles Dickens’ book of the same name, the group launched the Dickens Initiative to reach out to the community beyond the confines of the stage.
The initiative includes events with members of the cast and production staff that cover a variety of topics, from the difficulties of adaptation and direction to the play’s set and costume design.
“It’s about opening up the doors of the theater and giving the community an opportunity to understand the significance of this particular play and novel, and the process of taking a novel and adapting it for the stage,” said Jeffrey Meanza, director of education and outreach for PlayMakers.
While the production of “Nicholas Nickleby” has been three years in the making, the programs for the Dickens Initiative were built during the last year.
The events focus on the inherently unique challenges of adapting a 900-page novel for the stage while preserving the novel’s nuances and intricacies.
PlayMakers will present the work in two 3-hour plays. Part I opens on Nov. 11.
The talks have been spread throughout the Triangle to give back to as many patrons as possible, Meanza said.
“The goal isn’t to have one person come to all of the events, although if they did, they would have a great time,” he said.
Convincing local venues to host the events “wasn’t a hard sell,” Meanza said.
In fact, after hearing about the program, multiple organizations came to PlayMakers to offer their support.
“I was absolutely tickled,” said Marian Fragola, humanities and adult programming coordinator for Durham County Library, about working together on the project.
“And for a library it makes perfect sense to join the literary resources of the library with the dramatic resources of PlayMakers,” she said.
The initiative was funded through a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The grant, Access to Artistic Excellence, aims to create a production that gives its community opportunities to interact with the work on a deeper level than in the past.
“It’s certainly a very special opportunity that’s not going to come around very often,” Fragola said.
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