There’s constant talk about how certain books should be made into films. How would they translate to film? Who would they cast? However, what about books that should be turned into something for the stage? Over the years, we’ve had plays and musicals like War Horse, The Phantom of the Opera, Matilda, Legally Blonde (yes, you read that correctly – it was a book before the films) and Frankenstein. We’re even getting a stage adaptation of The Hunger Games next year. Here are a few books that should be brought to life on the stage.
Already a successful, Oscar winning film, Memoirs could translate well to the stage. If done correctly, it would probably be absolutely outstanding. The story revolves around Chiyo, a young girl from Japan, who is taken from life of poverty in a poor fishing village on the coast of Japan. She is sold, along with her sister, to a geisha boarding house in Gion. From here, the reader accompanies Chiyo on her Geisha training, and eventually becoming one. We also learn of her life outside being a Geisha. The book would probably work better as a play, as songs may take away from the impact of the story. The costumes and the scenery would be reason enough to see the show.
Set in Nazi run Germany, the reader is introduced to Liesel Meminger, a 12 year old girl who has been put into a foster home after her mother has been taken away. Whilst at her brother’s funeral, Liesel steals a book, despite the fact that she can neither read nor write. Luckily, she forms a good relationship with her foster parents. Here, Liesel learns to read and write. She develops friendships, relationships and life experiences. Despite the serious nature of the novel, it’s worth reading. The Book Thief may be better translated as a musical. If given the right composers and lyricists, perhaps Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil (the duo behind a little musical named Les Miserables), the story could be brought to life. Also, with the proper direction (Michael Mayer, Matthew Bourne, or Trevor Nunn), audiences (and book fans) could get something worth watching.
If The Lion King and War Horse can succeed, why can’t The Life of Pi? While immigrating to North America from India with his family, Pi is shipwrecked at sea with no one but a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The two are stranded in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean for over 200 days. The story tells of Pi’s life in Indian, why the family immigrated and what happened after the shipwreck. This would really need to fall into the proper hands. This could work either as a play or as a musical (look, if you can have singing lions, monkeys and warthogs, why can’t you have a singing tiger?), but probably better as a play. Yes, it would require a bit of creative thinking. With the success of the award winning War Horse, the award winning Handspring Puppet Company could creative Richard Parker, along with other animals in the book. Julie Taymor might be worth having direct.