Turning a 250-page novel or a two-and-a-half-hour stage play into a 90-minute film means leaving out much of the original and changing most of what’s left. So why does it remain recognisably the same story? What is the slippery essence that transfers, unaltered, from page to screen?

In Adaptations, Denise Faithfull comprehensively and systematically addresses the thorny issues of choosing your source and type of adaptation, whether a liberal appropriation, a free-flowing intersection, a variation or a faithful translation. She illuminates questions of structure, character, dialogue and visualisation, and includes a checklist for the adaptor. Brian Hannant’s introductory chapter discusses the history of Australian film, the basic principles of filmmaking and screenwriting, and a guide to correct screenplay layout.

Drawing from dozens of Australian films including Così, Lantana, Hotel Sorrento, The Boys, Dead Heart, Death in Brunswick and Head On, Adaptations navigates the treacherous waters of the adaptation process, showing us what works … and what doesn’t.

For anyone who’s ever read a novel, seen a play or heard an incredible true story and thought, ‘Now, that would make a great film’, Adaptations is the ultimate on how to make it happen.

Click here for a review by Nick Sidoryn, Marden Senior College, as published in the SAETA Newsletter, Spring 2007.

Set about 135 million years ago, the story of Rosi, who is a ... well ... Rosi’s not quite sure! She lives in the forest with Arky Archaeopteryx, Allo Allosaurus and the Hadrosaurs. Can be performed with puppets.

Limited stock, available only from Currency Press direct.

Cast : 6M, 1F

Performance Rights : Currency Press

Limited stock, available only from Currency Press direct.

A powerful and disturbing 'De Profundis' story, Bad Boy Bubby follows Bubby's escape from the subterranean depths of a brutalising and hermetic childhood into a world that at times seems more brutal and damaged than the hellhole from which he has emerged.

Despite obstacles on the way, Bubby, eventually finds his way to redemptive love, after encountering many of the joys and ills of modern life.

The film won five awards at the Venice Film Festival in 1993 including the Grand Special Jury Prize and the International film Critics Award. Also winner of Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the 1994 AFI awards.

A captivating localised history of the most popular and accessible musical instrument in the country. Based on ten years of extensive research and interviews with players, this book also includes an Australian harmonica discography and fascinating illustrations.

Limited stock, available only from Currency Press direct.

‘Sydney and drag form a natural alliance—the brisk, glittering city on the edge of a stunning harbour and the glamorous, biting performance style that thumbs its nose at convention.‘

So begins Langley’s journey into the world of Sydney drag, a performance culture that has become internationally famous.

In this lavishly illustrated book we meet some of the city’s leading contemporary performers—Claire de Lune, Vanity Faire, Polly Petrie, Mitzi Macintosh, Dorreen Manganini, Verushka Darling, Maxi Shield, Miss 3D, Joyce Maynge and Portia Turbo—and the men behind them. Through a series of candid portraits the artists detail their backgrounds and skills, the rituals that precede their performances, and the relationship between the private and public personas. A fascinating book which illuminates the appeal of drag to a wide audience and celebrates its contribution to Sydney’s life.

To find out more about Carol Langley visit her website here.

Winner of the 2006 DIVA for Outstanding Achievement in Media Award

This is the definitive guide to making a career out of making people laugh. If you’ve got a sense of humour, you can learn to make a career out of comedy, says Judy Carter. Whether it’s creating a killer stand-up act, writing a spec sitcom, or providing jokes for radio or one-liners for greeting cards, Carter provides step-by-step instructions in The Comedy Bible. She helps readers first determine which genre of comedy writing or performing suits them best and then directs them in developing, refining, and selling their work.

‘Judy Carter can show you how to make your sense of humour pay off’. - Oprah

‘ The Comedy Bible is proof God does have a sense of humour... Until comedians can enrol in a comedy 101 humourversity course at the school of hard knock-knocks, this is the next best thing.’ Wil Anderson

This overview documents a wide range of professional theatre activity now known as Community Theatre—a successor to the Alternative Theatre Movement.

Limited stock, available only from Currency Press direct.

Composing Venus was first performed in Brisbane in 1994. It is a female-centric narrative set in Charters Towers, involving a central matriarch, her four talented daughters, and the social constraints in the lives of ordinary women. David Berthold has described Acworth as a playwright with a "big vision somewhere between Hewett and White".

Cast : 2M, 5F

Performance Rights : Curtis Brown (Aust.) Pty Ltd info [ât] curtisbrown.com.au

Revised and abridged from Companion to Theatre in Australia. A concentrated reference guide for the theatre lover and student. Covers all aspects of theatre from past to present.

Eight frank confessions by eight prizewinning arts journalists, delving into their individual ways of thinking. Roger Covell writes on concerts; Bruce Elder on popular music; Sandra Hall on film; Marion Halligan on literature; John McCallum on theatre; Cyrus Meher-Homji on recordings; Joanna Mendelssohn on art; and Alan Saunders on food.

Limited stock, available only from Currency Press direct.