Join us for a deep dive into the art of adaptation with Pulitzer Prize winner and 2018-19 Princeton Hodder Fellow Martyna Majok and Lecturer in Theater Chesney Snow. Discover the secrets to transforming The Great Gatsby into a theatrical treasure for the stage. Majok wrote the book for a new musical adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s legendary novel with a score by international rock star Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine and Oscar and Grammy Award nominee Thomas Bartlett that will have its world premiere in May 2024. A must-see event for literature and theater lovers alike! See student performances alongside unprecedented insight into the mind of one of today’s most prolific theater artists. Don’t miss this community discussion that uncovers the craft of bringing pages to life.
Hosted by Snow in conjunction with his fall course, “The Oral Interpretation of Toni and William,” and in collaboration with Princeton University Library’s special collections exhibition, In the Company of Good Books: Shakespeare to Morrison.
Cosponsored by the Lewis Center for the Arts and Princeton University Library.
Tickets & Details
The conversation is free and open to the public; no tickets or registration required.
Directions
Get directions to the CoLab, located on the Forum level of the Lewis Arts complex.
Accessibility
The CoLab is an accessible venue. Visit our Venues and Studios section for accessibility information at our various locations. Students in need of access accommodations are invited to contact the Lewis Center at 609-258-5262 or email LewisCenter@princeton.edu at least one week in advance of the event date.
About Martyna Majok
Playwright Martyna Majok. Photo by Brian McConkey
Martyna Majok was born in Bytom, Poland, and raised in Jersey and Chicago. She was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her Broadway debut play, Cost of Living, which was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play. Other plays include Sanctuary City, Queens, and Ironbound, which have been produced across American and international stages.
Majok’s other awards include The Arthur Miller Foundation Legacy Award, The Obie Award for Playwriting, The Hull-Warriner Award, The Academy of Arts and Letters’ Benjamin Hadley Danks Award for Exceptional Playwriting, The Sun Valley Playwrights Residency Award, Off Broadway Alliance Best New Play Award, The Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding New Play, The Hermitage Greenfield Prize, as the first female recipient in drama, The Champions of Change Award from the NYC Mayor’s Office, The Francesca Primus Prize, two Jane Chambers Playwriting Awards, The Lanford Wilson Prize, The Lilly Award’s Stacey Mindich Prize, Helen Merrill Emerging Playwright Award, Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding Original New Play from The Helen Hayes Awards, Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award, ANPF Women’s Invitational Prize, David Calicchio Prize, Global Age Project Prize, NYTW 2050 Fellowship, NNPN Smith Prize for Political Playwriting, and Merage Foundation Fellowship for The American Dream. Majok studied at Yale School of Drama, Juilliard, University of Chicago, and Jersey public schools. She was a 2012-2013 NNPN playwright-in-residence, the 2015-2016 PoNY Fellow at the Lark Play Development Center, and a 2018-2019 Hodder Fellow at Princeton University. Gatsby, a new musical for which Majok wrote the libretto with music by Florence Welch and Thomas Bartlett, will premiere this spring at A.R.T. She has developed TV projects for HBO and is writing feature films for Plan B/Pastel/MGM/Orion, MRC/T-Street and Participant.
