Tiny Beautiful Things and the secrets of creating theater

How do you take a bestselling book of advice column essays and successfully adapt it for the stage—then do it again in another language? Academy Award-nominated Nia Vardalos will perform, in English and Greek, excerpts of her play Tiny Beautiful Things, which she adapted from the book by Cheryl Strayed and starred in during its sold-out opening runs in New York, Los Angeles, and Athens. The New York Times described it as a play “about the endangered art of listening to—and really hearing and responding to—other people.” Lyricist, playwright, and director Spiros Katsaganis will discuss the many languages the play has been translated into, his process of translating the play into Greek, and directing it at the venerable Pallas theater in Athens. He’ll also share how he extracted the themes of the theatrical text to write lyrics for the play’s theme song. Together, they will welcome questions on the many elements involved in playwriting, songwriting, and directing theater.