Postdramatic Methods of Adaptation in the Age of Digital Collaborative Writing

Abstract

The aim of our contribution is to shed light on the artistic process of theatrical adaption from a novel to a theatre script and, eventually, to the stage. Our example comes from contemporary European theatre: the production of Die Brüder Karamasow (The Brothers Karamasow) by Luk Perceval at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg, based on Dostoevsky’s eponymous novel (2013). We use digital text analysis and visualization to analyze the genesis of an adaptation. Our analysis is mainly based on a large set of different versions of the playtext. We visualize the working process during the nine-month process of adaptation and rehearsal. By automatically calculating and comparing the textual differences between each two subsequent versions, both stages of thorough revision and superficial text changes can be identified. We supplement this analysis with information on the working process given by Perceval himself during a recent interview in Hamburg, and with research on his previous methods of adaptation, using the archives of his original Flemish company Blauwe Maandag Compagnie.