Robert Johanson
Literary Adaptation
At Paper Mill, I had the opportunity to create dramatic adaptations of great novels. First, I directed Christopher Sergel’s To Kill a Mockingbird and it was so successful that I decided to try my hand at my four favorite English novels: Great Expectations, A Tale of Two Cities, Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. All of the productions sold-out and were critical successes. They all have been published by Dramatic Publishing and are produced all over the world.
Featured Literary Adaptations
Oliver!: Having previously done my own literary adaptations of two Dickens novels, I dug into the musical Oliver! by going back to the source. This became a much darker and layered version of the musical and was highly successful. The atmospheric sets and perfect performances transported us to Dickens London.
Great Expectations: I’ve written many literary adaptations, but this one is my favorite. The story has haunted me since I read it as a teenager. I was Pip. How fortunate to bring this great work to the stage- the full book leaping off the page and into the hearts of audiences.
Jane Eyre: The evocative tale of Jane Eyre and Mr. Rochester brought to stunning life. This show debuted at Paper Mill and I’ve had productions of my script all over the world since then. It’s a story for the ages.
Tale of Two Cities: This production had to be very fluid and cinematic because it continually bounces back and forth between London and Paris. We had an amazing production and a life-size guillotine.
Wuthering Heights: Wuthering Heights was the most challenging as we told the full tale that usually is not included in movie versions which feature a whole second generation of characters leading to Heathcliff’s demise.
