Lifeline Theatre, which specializes in original adaptations of classic and contemporary literature in Rogers Park, has announced plans for its 35th season. The third and final play on the docket will be a new production of a 2010 hit, company member Robert Kauzlaric’s adaptation of the fantasy tale Neverwhere, by the revered author Neil Gaiman.
“Whether in comics (Sandman) or prose (American Gods), Gaiman traffics in mythologies,” I wrote in my four-star review of the original production, which takes on Gaiman’s story of an average Londoner who stumbles into London Below, a subterranean version of the city that lurks just underneath. “Neverwhere is his archetypal hero’s quest, and Lifeline’s skillful staging is remarkable in its efficiency. Kauzlaric’s adaptation is faithful in letter and spirit, but he knows where excisions must be made.” The new production will be staged by Ilesa Duncan, to run May 25 to July 18, 2018.
Earlier in the season, Lifeline will tackle two world premiere adaptations: Sylvester: or the Wicked Uncle, adapted from Georgette Heyer’s 1957 comic novel by Christina Calvit and directed by Dorothy Milne (September 8–October 29); and Tolstoy’s epic Anna Karenina, adapted by Jessica Wright Buha and directed by Amanda Link (February 16–April 8).
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