Literature to Life
Encyclopedia
Literature to Life is a performance-based literacy program produced by The American Place Theater that presents verbatim adaptations of significant American literary works and serves thousands of students and educators around the United States. This educational program gives students a new form of access to literature by bringing to life the world of books with performances that create an atmosphere of discovery and spark the imagination.
Literature to Life develops the engagement and academic achievement of students in public schools by fostering personal connections to their classroom curriculum through four main components: (1) professional theatrical Stage Presentations of American literature, (2) in-class theater and literacy Residency workshops, and (3) The Living Library, and (4) Professional Development workshops.
The first book performed by Literature to Life was Toni Morison's The Bluest Eye
in 1994. Other books that have been adapted for Literature to Life's theatrical performances include Ray Bradney's Fahrenheit 451
, Tim O'Brien The Things They Carried
, Richard Wright's Black Boy
, Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
, Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees
, Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
, and Lois Lowery's The Giver
.
In a time in which arts education funding is severely threatened, "[The] American Place Theater is helping to fill this critical gap with a celebration of distinctly American stories. APT reaches some 30,000 students annually. The majority are children growing up in poverty, often with no books at home. APT has found that, after a school performance, 85 percent of students want to read or re-read the book they have watched come to life."
The titles for the 2010-2011 season are Janot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
, adapted and directed by Elise Thoron and Peri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets
adapted and directed by Wynn Handman
. Literature to Life's new adaptation for the 2009-2010 season was Greg Mortenson's
best-selling book, Three Cups of Tea
. Also, adapted and directed by Wynn Handman, the show features sixty minutes of performance from this globally important best seller. From the first heart-stopping opening moments stranded on a mountaintop, the actor brings the audience through the very intimate journey of one man’s fight against all odds to make a difference in the world.
, and Literature to Life students; and honored Greg Mortenson
, an author and humanitarian whose story of remarkable altruism is being brought to life for students across America ... one school at a time.
Literature to Life develops the engagement and academic achievement of students in public schools by fostering personal connections to their classroom curriculum through four main components: (1) professional theatrical Stage Presentations of American literature, (2) in-class theater and literacy Residency workshops, and (3) The Living Library, and (4) Professional Development workshops.
The first book performed by Literature to Life was Toni Morison's The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye
The Bluest Eye is a 1970 novel by American author Toni Morrison. It is Morrison's first novel, written while Morrison was teaching at Howard University and was raising her two sons on her own. The story is about a year in the life of a young black girl in Lorain, Ohio, named Pecola...
in 1994. Other books that have been adapted for Literature to Life's theatrical performances include Ray Bradney's Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books...
, Tim O'Brien The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried is a collection of related stories by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, originally published in hardcover by Houghton Mifflin, 1990...
, Richard Wright's Black Boy
Black Boy
Black Boy is an autobiography by Richard Wright. The author explores his childhood and race relations in the South. Wright eventually moves to Chicago, where he establishes his writing career and becomes involved with the Communist Party....
, Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.The book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. Two years before the story begins, Oskar's father dies on 9/11...
, Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees
This is about the 2002 Sue Monk Kidd novel. For the 2008 film, see Secret Life of Bees The Secret Life of Bees is a 2002 historical novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. It received much critical acclaim and was a New York Times bestseller...
, Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner
The Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it is Hosseini's first novel, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007....
, and Lois Lowery's The Giver
The Giver
The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life...
.
In a time in which arts education funding is severely threatened, "[The] American Place Theater is helping to fill this critical gap with a celebration of distinctly American stories. APT reaches some 30,000 students annually. The majority are children growing up in poverty, often with no books at home. APT has found that, after a school performance, 85 percent of students want to read or re-read the book they have watched come to life."
The titles for the 2010-2011 season are Janot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a best-selling novel written by Dominican author Junot Díaz. Although a work of fiction, the novel is set in New Jersey where Díaz was raised and deals explicitly with his ancestral homeland's experience under dictator Rafael Trujillo...
, adapted and directed by Elise Thoron and Peri Thomas' Down These Mean Streets
Down These Mean Streets
Down These Mean Streets is the autobiography of Piri Thomas, a Latino of Puerto Rican and Cuban descent who grew up in El Barrio , a section of Harlem that has a large Puerto Rican population...
adapted and directed by Wynn Handman
Wynn Handman
Wynn Handman, is the Artistic Director of The American Place Theatre, which he co-founded with Sidney Lanier and Michael Tolan in 1963. His role in the theatre has been to seek out, encourage, train, and present new and exciting writing and acting talent and to develop and produce new plays by...
. Literature to Life's new adaptation for the 2009-2010 season was Greg Mortenson's
Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...
best-selling book, Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time is a book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006. For four years, the book remained on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller's list...
. Also, adapted and directed by Wynn Handman, the show features sixty minutes of performance from this globally important best seller. From the first heart-stopping opening moments stranded on a mountaintop, the actor brings the audience through the very intimate journey of one man’s fight against all odds to make a difference in the world.
Literature to Life Awards
Every year, The American Place Theater hosts its annual Gala, the Literature to Life Awards. The 2010 Literature to Life Awards took place on May 18, 2010; began with an adapted theatrical performance of Three Cups of Tea starring actor Curtis Nielsen; included a short video with messages from Meryl Strep, Alec BaldwinAlec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
, and Literature to Life students; and honored Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...
, an author and humanitarian whose story of remarkable altruism is being brought to life for students across America ... one school at a time.
- 2004 Honoree (Spring): Sue Monk KiddSue Monk KiddSue Monk Kidd is a writer from the Southern United States, best known for her novel, The Secret Life of Bees.- Biography :Kidd, who was born in Sylvester, Georgia, graduated from Texas Christian University with a B.S...
for The Secret Life of BeesThe Secret Life of BeesThis is about the 2002 Sue Monk Kidd novel. For the 2008 film, see Secret Life of Bees The Secret Life of Bees is a 2002 historical novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. It received much critical acclaim and was a New York Times bestseller... - 2004 Honoree (Fall): Tim O'BrienTim O'Brien (author)Tim O'Brien is an American novelist who often writes about his experiences in the Vietnam War and the impact the war had on the American servicemen who fought there...
for The Things They CarriedThe Things They CarriedThe Things They Carried is a collection of related stories by Tim O'Brien, about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, originally published in hardcover by Houghton Mifflin, 1990... - 2005 Honoree: Khaled HosseiniKhaled HosseiniKhaled Hosseini , is an Afghan-born American novelist and physician of ethnic Tajik origin. He is a citizen of the United States where he has lived since he was fifteen years old. His 2003 debut novel, The Kite Runner, was an international bestseller, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide....
for The Kite RunnerThe Kite RunnerThe Kite Runner is a novel by Khaled Hosseini. Published in 2003 by Riverhead Books, it is Hosseini's first novel, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 2007.... - 2006 Honoree (Spring): Jonathan Safran FoerJonathan Safran FoerJonathan Safran Foer is an American author best known for his novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...
for Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseExtremely Loud and Incredibly CloseExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.The book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. Two years before the story begins, Oskar's father dies on 9/11... - 2006 Honoree (Fall): Jeannette WallsJeannette WallsJeannette Walls is a writer and journalist widely known as former gossip columnist for MSNBC.com — and author of The Glass Castle, a memoir of the nomadic family life of her childhood, which stayed on the New York Times Best Seller list for 100 weeks.-Early life and education:Walls was born...
for The Glass CastleThe Glass CastleThe Glass Castle is a 2005 memoir by Jeannette Walls. The book recounts her and her siblings' unconventional, poverty-stricken upbringing at the hands of their deeply dysfunctional parents.... - 2008 Honoree: Frank McCourtFrank McCourtFrancis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and Pulitzer Prize–winning writer, best known as the author of Angela’s Ashes, an award-winning, tragicomic memoir of the misery and squalor of his childhood....
for Teacher ManTeacher ManTeacher Man is a 2005 memoir written by Frank McCourt which describes and reflects on his teaching experiences in New York high schools and colleges.-Synopsis:... - 2009 Honoree: Ray BradburyRay BradburyRay Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
for Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury. The novel presents a future American society where reading is outlawed and firemen start fires to burn books... - 2010 Honoree: Greg MortensonGreg MortensonGreg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...
for Three Cups of TeaThree Cups of TeaThree Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time is a book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006. For four years, the book remained on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller's list...