****Mixed Magic Theatre will present an adaptation of Mary Shelley’s science fiction novel FRANKENSTEIN at historic Veterans Auditorium in April, 2014.****
This adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic science-fiction novel by written by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, with Bill Pett and Jim Brown, is part of The Frankenstein Literacy Project a three part program that also includes pre-performance workshops with Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, attendance at performances and a day long symposium with literary scholars, theater artists, medical professionals, law enforcement officials, teachers and members of the clergy. This symposium, which will also include students on each panel, will discuss some of the “big” topics explored in the novel including- ethics in science, morality and the American credo of life, liberty and happiness, how modern monsters are made, the nature of otherness, and the ramifications of taking or not taking responsibility for ones actions.
The Frankenstein Literacy Project, follows on the model developed by director/author Pitts-Wiley during the Moby Dick Project in 2007. That effort employed many of the concepts pioneered by Professor Henry Jenkins at Project New Media Literacies, originally at MIT in Cambridge, MA, now at the Annenberg Center of the University of Southern California. Pitts-Wiley’s page-to-stage adaptation of Herman Melville’s epic American novel, titled Moby Dick: Then and Now, is the centerpiece of Reading in a Participatory Culture: Remixing Moby Dick in the English Classroom, published by Teacher College Press.
Why is media literacy important to you?
I hope with the work that I am doing to put certain media literacy concepts into real times and real life practice. This is an exciting forward thinking field of study, yet I have concerns that many students and communities will be left out of the re-mix. For me it is important to make sure that a wide ranging and diverse audience as possible has access to the future of learning.
The more I learn about the field and meet those creating its matrix, the more I see opportunities via the theatre to create new dialogues and expand villages of knowledge and participation. I’m also excited how I can use my background and skills to assure that personal contact and responsibility, and active participation is included in the learning process.
Why did you become a NAMLE member – what benefits to you see to membership and how will it support your work.
More than I believe NAMLE will support my work, I am looking for opportunities to support the work of the organization. I became a member because I was curious to see if the the work I was doing and the work of NAMLE were at all compatible. They are. But there is work and exploration to be done to find ways for new media learning and the performing arts to work even closer.