Whisperer: A Study in Adaptation

Abstract

It is becoming increasingly common in the modern theatre world for practitioners to be multi‐disciplinary. This thesis mates the skills of academia, scriptwriting, technical design and prop fabrication in order to create an adaption of H. P. Lovecraft’s The Whisperer in Darkness. In it, I investigate the methodology of adaptation and how it has, and can, apply specifically to the Gothic and Weird Fiction genres. Via study of other Gothic and Lovecraftian adaptions, I craft a script from The Whisperer in Darkness, including design specifications and specialist technical considerations. Many of these findings are explored through a practical staging of said script.

It is strongly advisable for any reader of this thesis to first read the appendix.