In this episode our hosts focus on The Fault in Our Stars by John Green which follows a teenage girl with cancer as she falls in love for the first time. The hosts discuss the different ways that Hazel and Gus approach life, their parents and the criticisms about their intelligence and pretension.
This time around Dorin, Jenn and Kendyl discuss the film Sabotage in which a team of DEA agents is quickly being eliminated one by one, loosely based on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. While this isn’t everyone’s type of film, they have a good time discussing what parts were unnecessary, what parts were confusing and why the deaths needed to be more interesting.
I have a new obsession and her name is Yulin Kuang.
That sounds creepy, but if there’s one thing I think I can trust internet fandom with, I hope it’s understanding that stage where you have just discovered a new creator and then must proceed to watch everything they have ever created. This has recently happened to me when I came across Shipwrecked‘s series Kissing in the Rain.
Kissing in the Rain is a transmedia YouTube project of the Shipwrecked team that includes Yulin Kuang, Sinead Persaud and Sean Persaud. It’s first chapter has just concluded and chapter two is due to begin May 5. Chapter one followed actors James and Lily, played by Mary Kate Wiles and Sean Persaud, as they are frequently cast as romantic leads in films that have them kissing in the rain. Each episode starts with the movie scene leading up to the kiss and then the director yells cut and the couple reverts to the actors awkwardly trying to fill the post-kiss silence.
The transmedia bit comes in with the encouragement and canonization of fan fiction. With each episode Yulin Kuang releases a companion drabble to add to the story of the two actors and then fans follow her lead. After going through the related tumblr tags and reading what the fans come up with, Yulin decides what to canonize and it gets reblogged on the official Shipwrecked tumblr and is official canon from that point forward.
If you’re interested in starting to watch, there is a very helpful post that pulls everything together here. There’s just a week until chapter two starts which will be following a different set of actors, Audrey and Henry, played by Sinead Persaud and Sairus Graham.
But at the risk of sounding like an infomercial, that’s not all! After I got caught up on Kissing in the Rain, I needed more, so I moved on to a previous Shipwrecked series called A Tell Tale Vlog where Sean Persaud takes on the role of Edgar Allan Poe as he vlogs, writes poetry of questionable quality and gets haunted by Lady Lenore played by Sinead Persaud. EA Poe tends to bring to mind thoughts of a rather somber nature and Shipwrecked expertly takes advantage of that, turning somber into hilariously awkward. There’s even something of a crossover in the last episode with Kissing in the Rain episode 4, which just happens to be my favorite.
And if you thought that I stopped there, you haven’t been paying attention. After finishing A Tell Tale Vlog, I moved on to Yulin Kuang’s personal YouTube page where she has a series called I Didn’t Write This and various other original projects, including a trailer for an upcoming short film called Irene Lee, Girl Detective. But since this is a blog that focuses on adaptations, I think I should at least try to pretend that is what I’m doing.
In I Didn’t Write This, Yulin creates visual representations for poetry such as T.S. Eliot’s The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and excerpts from novels like John Green’s Looking For Alaska. A personal favorite of mine is her adaptation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 and among the few videos that I haven’t watched yet is an excerpt from Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl as I fear the potential spoilers. Even if poetry isn’t your thing, I seriously suggest watching and continuing to follow this series. Yulin’s videos are gorgeously created and will make you feel things, just like the rest of her work.
Finally, Shipwrecked used their week off from Kissing in the Rain to release their newest project- a music video featuring Mrs. Rochester from Jane Eyre as she sings a parody if “When Will My Life Begin” from Tangled. Titled Bertha’s Attic Song, Sinead Persaud plays Rochester’s neglected wife as she toes the line between her distress, her insanity and her obsession with fire. They even work in a little crossover at the end with Alysson Hall of The Autobiography of Jane Eyre web-series.
If you’d made it this far, I do hope that something on this list of creations has caught your eye enough for you to delve into the world of Yulin Kuang and Shipwrecked. Everything that I’ve seen so far has been impeccably executed with an obvious passion for film making and that sense of fun which keeps you wanting to see more.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve already been following one or all of these projects or if something in particular caught your eye. You can also talk to us on Twitter @AdaptationCast and Tumblr.
And Then There Were None was my first Agatha Christie novel, and before I even finished this quick read, I knew it would not be my last. From the first few chapters, the notorious ‘Queen of Mystery’ had me racing through the pages in search of the next clue.
And Then There Were None, sometimes titled Ten Little Indians, starts off with ten strangers traveling to an island off the coast of Devon, each having been lured by a different deception. When they arrive, a recording accuses each person in turn of being complicit in the murder of someone in their past. Soon after, the accused murderers become victims themselves, being killed off one by one, the survivors getting more frantic with each death trying to figure out who…
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This story has captivated the world. It’s that simple.
From the Queen’s favorite production in London, to the creation of an award winning film and finalizing its popularity by bringing the original novel back to bestseller lists, this is the story of a farm boy and his horse, and how their lives become disrupted by the start of World War 1. One day the biggest concern is how Albert will keep his horse, Joey, out of his father’s hands. The next day, Joey is taken by the army to become part of the proud British Calvary. After that, Albert takes himself to the very edge to recover the life he lost the day Joey was taken. Together, horse and boy, fight their own battles in a war that no longer has room for proud war horses, rather, the battlefield is laden with tanks, machine guns and barbed wire.
It is clear that this adaptation from book to stage has been successful. From London to New York City to Melbourne to Berlin, audiences flock to the theater to sit through the most heart-wrenching production of an English boy, a German general and the horse that brings the humanity out of those he touches.
When I sat down in the round theater, I knew I had volunteered for something that would open the floodgates, though I could’ve have guessed what that really meant. With the music bursting into my chest, I was caught in the first breathes of the production. From foal to stallion, Joey pranced around the stage with the echoing excitement of Black Beauty. Three men worked the puppet that becomes Joey and not once did I ever notice them on the stage. Joey trotted, galloped, charged with the grace of his puppeteers for the entirety of the production and as an audience member you can only be captivated by the brilliance of the artist who created life out of metal and gears.
By the end of the evening, you could see the tears flow from every member of the audience – it’s the blessing of the round theater in which we sat. Husbands comforted wives, men pretended not to wipe the tears from their eyes, the woman next to me was inconsolable and I myself couldn’t dry my cheeks fast enough. There was a pride in the room as our world darkened. It was not pride for the English Calvary, though that was there. It was not pride for soldiers or victory or the strength the in horses were made march to march off to war. The pride that was felt by all of us was that even in the darkest moments there are those amongst us who never forget our humanity. The strength to sacrifice for a cause that is just, to care for those who cannot care for themselves and to remember that there is always a choice.
This is one adaptation that cannot be missed. The message is there, the success is clear.
War Horse will add to your life.
The first and final season of Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, part of the OUAT universe, followed a grown up Alice as she fought against Jafar and found her true love, Cyrus. While our hosts weren’t overly fond of the first half of the season, it grew on them and in this episode they discuss their favorite characters, who was under-used, and the things they still want answers to.
In which Jess tells you our picks for the most atrocious character defining mistakes.
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Just in time for the start of season 4, the team gets all their thoughts out on season 1-3 of Game of Thrones while comparing it to the series by George R.R. Martin. Loads of character discussion ensues as well as talk of who everyone wants on the throne versus who might actually get there. The hosts that are farther along in their reading bite their tongues to keep from spoiling while the newbie readers habitually add ‘at this point’ to everything they say just in case.
What are your season 4 predictions? Leave them in the comments, but no spoilers!
EDITOR’S NOTE/SPOILER WARNING: Though Ryan and Sarah didn’t fully succeed in not dropping hints about what happens past where the TV show has reached, speaking as a person that has only read up to the end of book 2, I did not feel spoiled by anything they said. They mention the names of some events but don’t say what happens, and say one thing about Arya’s future path that is not surprising. We also threw in some fake spoilers and fan theories along the way, so basically just don’t trust anything you hear.
Following up on our episode on Veronica Roth’s Divergent, the team gathers around to talk about the film adaptation by Neil Burger. While they welcomed some of the changes, there were others that they felt needed clarification, as well as some characters that needed more screen time.
Have a listen and tell us if you agree with our assessment! Leave your thoughts in the comments!
Don’t forget to check out our episode on the novel by Veronica Roth!
This time around, the Adaptation girls discuss Agatha Christie’s novel And Then There Were None in which ten people are lured to an island and then killed off one by one. There’s also a creepy nursery rhyme with a racist history and some rather disturbing character backstories. The hosts talk about theories they had while reading, alternate endings that could have been and the unexpected and infuriating ending.
EDIT: You can now listen to our episode on the film Sabotage, which was loosely based on this book.
What did you think of this Christie mystery? Tell us in the comments!
Back in September when we made our Adaptations We Wish Existed vlog, I smugly suggested that my pick, Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan was the most likely to happen given all the recent press on The Fault in Our Stars adaptation. Well, I got the author right, just not the book.
Earlier this week, Deadline announced that the team behind the TFIOS movie will be joining up again to bring John Green’s Paper Towns to the screen. Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber will once again take on the challenge of writing the screenplay while Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will reprise their roles as producers. This time, however, John Green himself will be getting a executive producer credit. In addition, Nat Wolff who plays Isaac in TFIOS will be stepping into the center of Paper Towns as the main character, Quentin.
While it might seem presumptuous to sign the team up for another project when the TFIOS film is still two months away from release, Green comes complete with a built in audience that leaves no doubt of the film’s success, at least in the number of fans that will run out to see it opening weekend. How well they like it will be another story, but if the author’s reaction is anything to go by, it will be amazing.
Following the announcement of the Paper Towns film, Green wrote about his experience with TFIOS and his confidence in the team:
The experience of making The Fault in Our Stars was really wonderful because of the people involved: They all brought their talent and professionalism to the story and I’m so proud of the movie they made.
It was all so fun and magical (and frankly so different from my previous Hollywood experiences) that to be honest I wasn’t particularly keen to make another movie—unless I could work again with people I really trust.
And now it has happened!
I’ve already admitted that Paper Towns wasn’t my first choice for a second John Green novel adaptation, but that doesn’t make me any less excited about the announcement. Especially since the writing team was also behind (500) Days of Summer, a film that attempts to dismantle the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope just as Paper Towns does.
Still, I’m not giving up hope that one day I’ll get to see Tiny Cooper on the big screen.
Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin, a book review by Kendyl Bryant of The Adaptation Podcast
After I finished all 750 pages (or more accurately the 27-hour audiobook) of Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin, I had some very mixed emotions. Accomplishment was certainly one, exhaustion another, but I’d be lying if I said the strongest wasn’t confusion. Winter’s Tale isn’t just long; it’s also complicated with at least ten main characters, lengthy descriptions and some fairly advanced symbolism.
But all this doesn’t mean it’s not worth the time and thought that it takes to read it. It just means that the reader should be willing to expend some energy in their trek through this marsh of literary fiction and magical realism.
The story begins in the early 1900s in a New York City that is slightly more fantastical than our own and spans to the turn of the millennium. During that…
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In which we list some of the worst casting decisions Hollywood has made for film adaptations.
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The team’s discussion of Divergent by Veronica Roth stays focused on the details of this futuristic Chicago and how each of the factions function within it. Then, in their character discussion, one host reveals her disappointment in how a certain arc ended. They also have a little crossover fun in trying to match the factions to the Hogwarts houses.
What did you think of Divergent? Leave all your thoughts and movie predictions in the comments! And please leave out any Insurgent/Allegiant spoilers!
EDIT: Our episode on the film Divergent is now available here!
National Theatre Live recently broadcasted encore screenings of War Horse from the New London Theatre in London’s West End. It is based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 novel of the same name and was adapted for the stage by Nick Stafford.
The story starts in rural Devon just before WWI, where two rowing brothers, Arthur and Ted Narracott, fight for a horse at auction. Each has a son at their side, one named Billy who immediately wants the horse, and the other named Albert who would rather that his drunken father not spend their mortgage money on the purchase. The drunkard wins and brings the horse home to his family’s dismay. His wife, however, tries to think positively about taking care of the horse so it grows up big and strong, which may enable them to sell him and make their money back. She leaves the responsibility to Albert, who bonds with him and names him Joey. The rest of the story tests the strength of their friendship to overcome obstacles through their separation as well as the hardships of war.
Michael Morpurgo described it best during an interview at intermission, when he said that the story is not only about a boy and his horse, but it is also about the human condition of universal suffering and a story of redemption. It brings forth a rainbow of emotions, from pride to sadness, fear to hope, laughter to tears and back again all while reminding the audience that we are all living, breathing and caring human beings… or in some cases, horses.
The production was directed by Marianne Elliot and Tom Morris, and stars Sion Daniel Young as Albert Narracott, Steve North as his father Ted, Josie Walker as his mother Rose, Alistair Brammer as his cousin Billy, and Tom Hodgkins as his uncle Arthur, amongst a long list of other actors and puppeteers that make up the full cast. Many of the actors played a few different characters which led my friend to ask me during the play “didn’t that guy die already?” though I personally had no trouble following along.
This play on its own is a theatrical masterpiece. From the moment the spotlight drops onto the stage until the finale, there is folk music to guide your way. From seeing the horse, Joey, as a free running foal, to him growing up on the Narracott farm and bonding with Albert, to the boys trying to keep morale up on the front lines, songman Ben Murray fills hearts and ears with his breathtaking and haunting sound, singing live on stage and enhancing each situation in this enchanting tale.
The acting was way above par and although I am unfamiliar with these actors, I would love to see them again. Each one of them took on their roles as if the stage wasn’t sparse. Even the puppeteers became their characters, breathing and moving like the animals they should be. The background characters were not just stand-ins either, they became part of the little scenery, being fences and gates and moving so the audience knew that the scenes had moved from stable to the field, or down the battlefield and over the barbed wire. Adding to the action and movement of the production, the center of the stage was a turntable giving it a movie feel, further enhanced by the ripped sheet of drawing paper (representing one that Albert rips out of Captain Nicholls’ sketchbook) which had projections of drawings, animated visions of Albert riding Joey, and images of war on it.
The puppets alone are a great reason to see this stage production, made by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa. These life-size and life-like puppets were characters of their own and although you could easily see the puppeteers, especially when Joey was a foal, it did not distract from the animals themselves. In fact, it is nice to see the puppeteers credited as the horse’s head, hind and heart. One of my favorite characters was actually the feisty goose played by puppeteer Tom Meredith.
Throughout the play, it amazed me what they could do with the puppets. Characters mounted the horses like a real ones (which is amazing in itself) and as they galloped and jumped the puppeteers could feign slow motion which was not only an amazing sight to see but added to the already building tension of warfare and a failing cavalry in a war that had advanced past their means. Besides that, when *Spoiler Alert: highlight to see text* Topthorn dies, not only is it gut wrenching, but the puppeteers come out from under him once he is down and walk away, letting people know for certain that the horse has died.
Joey and Topthorn moved and nearly breathed like real horses would. A glint in the eye, a flick or perk of the ear and a swish of the tail could tell you exactly what the horses were thinking. Which is great because although the play is staged so you can get everyone’s perspective, Michael Morpurgo’s novel was written in the first person perspective of the horse. During the aforementioned interview, they also spoke with Marianne Elliot who mentioned that they changed it because they “didn’t think a talking horse would work.” I agree that was a good choice.
This production has become a smash hit all over the world, with productions now being put up not only in England and America, but also Germany and China. It is a story that resonates with everyone, and I am not surprised. I was, however, surprised to learn that when Michael Morpurgo’s book was first published, it was not an immediate best seller. He said that if it wasn’t for the diligence of his publishers it might have fallen into obscurity. “There is also another similar book that no one has ever read called Black Beauty” he says, which may have attributed to that.
He was a bit concerned about the stage adaptation because when he read it, as it was clearly different from what he wrote, but he says that it was also because he was unfamiliar with the craft of playmaking, so to him a lot of things didn’t seem to work, but when you “put it in an actor’s voice and the actor doing what the actor does” it becomes terrific and it really works.
The whole production was seamless and although you could see how much work went into the design, staging, and music, the flow of it made everything seem so easy. It is more than worth the watch, so luckily it is available on DVD. For more information on the cast, crew and behind the scenes action go to NationalTheatrelive.org.uk.
I have yet to read the book myself or see the film version, but seeing this has made me want to scope them out and get a full view of the story in all its forms. I will post my thoughts on those once I do.
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