Off the Page is the first look at Word for Word's forthcoming productions.  With a public staged reading of a short story under consideration as a future show, we invite audiences to see the very first steps of our process of bringing a work from the page to the stage in the Word for Word style.  After the reading, we engage in a conversation with our audience, which gives us lots to think about as we decide on the next steps in bringing the short story to the stage.

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1 Reading of Xingu by Edith Wharton 2011, left to right: Stephanie Hunt, Amy Kossow, Nancy Shelby, JoAnne Winter, Patricia Silver
2 Reading of Julia, by Lillian Hellman, 2011, left to right: Susan Harloe, Christopher Herold, Stephanie Hunt
3 Reading of The Last Stand by Siobhan Fallon 2011, left to right: Ryan Tasker, Marcus S. Thompson, Nicholas Pelczar, Patrick Alparone
Photos by Ulla Havenga

Photo by Ulla Havenga

Co-Artistic Directors Susan Harloe and JoAnne Winter founded Word for Word Performing Arts Company in 1993 as part of the Artists in Residence program at The Z Space Studio (Z Space's original name). The very first performance, to a packed audience in a rehearsal space on Howard Street, was Dorothy Parker’s “The Standard of Living.” It was directed by Amy Freed and featuring John Balma, Susan Harloe, and JoAnne Winter.

After early performances in public libraries and schools, Word for Word soon began performing short stories on stage, quickly becoming a local theatre favorite. In 1994, Word for Word became a program of Z Space and has maintained popularity ever since.  In 1998, they established an arts education program known as Youth Arts employing the Word for Word style of in-depth, literature-from-the-inside-out workshops in Bay Area schools.

In its vibrant history, Word for Word has performed over 70 stories by some of the world’s best writers. Many of these stories have been performed in front of the authors themselves. they perform regularly in Bay Area theaters and since 1996  have toured annually throughout California and France.

The advisory board of Word for Word, the Charter Group, is also the core acting ensemble and directing pool for the company.  Meeting monthly since the company’s founding in 1993, the Charter Group works with the Co-Artistic Directors to shape the company’s vision and select stories for production.  A group of talented theatre professionals as well as fanatical readers, the Charter members feel fortunate to be part of such a unique and dynamic company—“how lucky we are to read aloud, be read to, and then perform short stories on a regular basis!”

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  JoAnne Winter, Artistic Director

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  Susan Harloe, Artistic Director

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  Sheila Balter

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  JeriLynn Cohen

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  Stephanie Hunt

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  Amy Kossow

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  Delia MacDougall

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  Wendy Radford

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  Nancy Shelby

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  Patricia Silver

The following writers have had their work performed by Word for Word, and lend their names in support the work of our company.

Greg Sarris
Honorary President

Julia Alvarez
T.C. Boyle
Dorothy Bryant
Sandra Cisneros
Paul Fleischman
Richard Ford
Ellen Gilchrist
Joanne Greenberg
Andrew Sean Greer
Daniel Handler
Barbara Kingsolver
Armistead Maupin
Greg Sarris
Octavio Solis
Amy Tan
Tobias Wolff