Members of the Lunar Stratagem theatre company will perform staged readings of plays written by the adult learners of the Tri-State Literacy Council next week in the culmination of this year’s Page-to-Stage program. The readings will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 8, at the downtown branch of the Cabell County Library.
In the program, learners were asked to brainstorm personal stories they wanted to dramatize into a play script. Over the course of several weeks, professional actors met with the learners and their tutors to guide them in refining their ideas into dialogue.
Tri-State Literacy Council Director Emily Warder said Page-to-Stage participants have a wonderful time collaborating to write the plays.
“Many tutoring pairs have built a strong rapport with one another while working on the Page-to-Stage program,” Warder said. “The writing process can be frustrating, but the excitement to see their words come to life is a hugely motivating factor.”
“I was excited to work with the learners on their plays,” said Carrie Edgell, an administrator with the literacy council and a literacy tutor. “They were so enthusiastic about the project.”
This is the second year of the Page-to-Stage program, said Nicole Perrone, producing director of the Lunar Stratagem and an associate professor of theatre at Marshall University. In the first year, the company organized a book drive in conjunction with their 2012 production of “Dead Letter Office”and the learners and tutors attended theatre productions at Marshall University throughout the year.
“We thought we could do more,” Perrone said. “The Page-to-Stage program enables us to reach an audience that has little or no prior experience with theatre. You can really see the impact of the arts, one person at a time.”
Warder added, “The Page-to-Stage program is an opportunity for our adult learners and volunteer tutors to interact with literacy in a completely different way. Not only does it promote literacy and improve both reading and writing skills, it allows the adult learner to see their own words come to life. It reinforces to adult learners that their life experiences and words are important and worth sharing.”
Edgell said the program offers learners multiple benefits.
“I could tell one learner was grateful and eager for the chance to write creatively—a welcome switch from the math we had been working on,” Edgell said. “Another learner was able to express herself emotionally through her characters, surpassing a hurdle she was experiencing in her writing and in her life.”
“It is a valuable and meaningful experience for the participants, whether tutors or learners.”
The Page-to-Stage program is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, and the National Endowment for the Arts, with approval from the West Virginia Commission on the Arts.
The Lunar Stratagem is Huntington’s alternative theatre company specializing in the creation of original work. The company was founded in 2011 by Perrone and her partner Matthew Earnest, a professional writer and director based in New York. The company produces one original work each year and then tours its production to festival venues in the U.S. and abroad. Their new dance-theater work, [glug], will premiere at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center on Jan. 8, almost exactly one year after the devastating chemical spill in West Virginia’s Elk River, the inspiration for the work.
To learn more about the Lunar Stratagem and the Page-to-Stage program, contact Perrone by phone at 646-345-2710 or by e-mail at perronen@marshall.edu, or visit www.thelunarstratagem.org.
