The giver : a play in three acts : adapted from the novel by Lois Lowry : an honors thesis (HNRS 499)

Abstract

For my senior honors thesis, I set out to adapt Lois Lowry's 1992 youth science-fiction novel The Giver for the stage. As a theatre major, I've spent much of my time at Ball State analyzing plays and studying how stories are told— on stage, on screen, and on paper. Some of my favorite plays and films have been adapted from books and I have always been interested in the process of how playwrights and screenwriters decide what aspects of an original text to keep, to change, or to omit altogether.To me, theatre is about the exploration of what it means to be human— sharing an experience with others and seeking solace that you are not alone in the world. The Giver deals with these issues. The protagonist, a young boy named Jonas, has grown up in a cold industrial society and through the power of memory learns about a time in the past that there was warmth and love everywhere. With his newfound wisdom, he is inspired to take control of his life and escape the emptiness of his world.With the United States government pushing for the Real ID Act to provide security to its citizens, the No Child Left Behind Act and its affects on fine arts education programs in schools, and the ongoing war in Iraq, our nation is facing some of the same issues raised in Lowry's 1992 novel. Just how much freedom are we willing to give up for the sake of security? How much control should a governing force exert to protect its citizens? What do we lose when we begin genetically engineering our children or replace expressive arts with more "practical" alternatives? Are we ever truly safe and what are the consequences of that safety? And is it really possible, in the face of adversity, for one person to truly change the world?