Adapting Contemporary Children's Literature for the Stage

Workshop Presenter:

Paul Mesner

Description:

Cinderella looking down at the heel? Snow White a bit dusty from the long winter of her discontent? Then learn how to perform new stories for new audiences. Creating theater from contemporary children's literature requires finding the right story for your style, obtaining the rights to perform it, and finding a way to bring something of yourself to the work in question. This workshop will help you in finding the right book, obtaining rights, and promoting a new story to audiences.

Materials fee: None
Time/Date: Wednesday, 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon
Max. # Participants: 30

Bio of Workshop Presenter:

Paul Mesner began his studies in puppetry at the age of twelve. His interests lead him to study as one of fifteen puppet-artists from around the world at the International Institute of Puppetry in Charleville-Mezieres, France. In 1992, Paul received the highest honor in puppetry, an award created by Jim Henson, the UNIMA-USA Citation for Excellence in Puppetry for Wiley and the Hairy Man, in 2000 for his performance of Sleeping Beauty in New York City at the Henson International Festival of Puppet Theater and again in 2008 for his production of for The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by A. Wolf by Jon Scieszka. The company has built a reputation for offering elaborate productions with witty scripts based on classic fairy tales and contemporary children's literature. The Paul Mesner Puppets is a not-for-profit theater based in Kansas City Missouri. In June of 2008, Paul served as a guest artist at the National Puppetry Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. In 2008, he received a grant from the Lighton International Exchange Program to study the art of Pulcinella taught by Italian puppet master, Bruno Leone with seven puppeteers from Europe at a three week workshop held at the International Institute of Puppetry.