Lesson Plan: Adapting a Novel for Stage and Screen — Gerry & Sewell as a Case Study

Struggling to teach adaptation without drowning students in theory or losing the heart of the story? This lesson plan uses the real-world path of Jonathan Tulloch’s novel into film and then the West End play Gerry & Sewell to teach practical techniques for narrative condensation, character focus, and staging choices. You’ll get classroom-ready activities, cheat-sheets, and assessment rubrics that fit contemporary 2026 production realities.

Why Gerry & Sewell is a timely case study (2026)

By 2026, educators and emerging creators want adaptation training that is fast, practical, and faithful to lived experience. Gerry & Sewell—an evolution from Jonathan Tulloch’s The Season Ticket to the film Purely Belter and, most recently, Jamie Eastlake’s stage version—offers three teaching advantages:

• It foregrounds regional voice and socioeconomic context, a priority for contemporary curricula that emphasise diversity and place-based storytelling.
• Its trajectory across media (novel → film → intimate club production → West End) outlines concrete production constraints and choices teachers can map to learning objectives.
• It exemplifies modern adaptation tools and workflows—like AI-assisted script condensation and remote table-reads—that became widespread in late 2025 and into 2026.

The adaptation journey: novel to film to stage

From Jonathan Tulloch’s The Season Ticket (2000)

Jonathan Tulloch’s original novel is picaresque and episodic, layering small moments of humour, desperate schemes, and local texture across a broad timeline. Novels let readers dwell in interiority, context, and digression—luxuries adaptations rarely have.

To Purely Belter (film)

The film adaptation prioritised visual comedy and compressed plotlines to fit a 90–110 minute runtime. Film choices typically include:

• Compressing multiple incidents into single set-pieces.
• Externalising internal thought through close-ups, soundtrack, and montage.
• Adjusting pacing to align with cinematic beats.

To Gerry & Sewell (stage by Jamie Eastlake)

Eastlake’s play—which migrated from a 60-seater social club to the West End—embraces theatricality: songs, choreographed sequences, and a deliberate use of regional demotic. Stage adaptations must decide what to show live and what to imply. In Gerry & Sewell this led to choices such as doubling roles, using music to compress time, and staging crowd energy with small casts.

Three adaptation lessons you can teach in class

1. Narrative condensation: how to cut without losing the soul

Problem: Students often equate “cutting” with “losing meaning.” The skill is to condense while preserving thematic through-lines.

Actionable framework (use in studio or seminar):

1. Identify the spine: Ask students to answer: What single journey (plot + theme) must the adaptation deliver in 90–120 minutes?
2. Map beats to scenes: Create a one-page beat-sheet from the novel—10–15 beats max. Every scene in the script must serve at least one beat.
3. Merge and reassign: Combine secondary incidents that serve similar emotional purposes. For example, two small scams in the novel can become a single, higher-stakes caper on stage.
4. Use theatrical compression tools: Montage songs, physical theatre, and choreographed sequences to signal time passing or repeated failure.

Class exercise (30–45 mins): Give students a 1,200-word excerpt from The Season Ticket. Task: reduce to a 400-word dramatic scene that reveals a character’s motive and advances the plot. Debrief by comparing which details were dropped and why.

2. Character focus and arc: pick the threads to follow

Problem: Adaptations can become ensemble mishmashes, obscuring who the audience should root for.

Concrete steps:

• Choose a protagonist and a secondary viewpoint: Gerry & Sewell centers two friends, but most adaptations must decide whether to make one the emotional centre or split focus deliberately.
• Define external goal vs. internal need: Gerry and Sewell want season tickets (external), but their internal needs—belonging, identity, dignity—must drive change.
• Arc mapping worksheet: Have students plot the character at three states: beginning (need/deficit), midpoint reversal (new complication), and end (realised or deferred need).

Mini-assignment: Rewrite a scene as if Gerry alone is the lead (50–100 lines). Then rewrite it making Sewell the lead. Discuss how stakes and choices shift.

3. Staging choices: medium specificity and creative constraints

Problem: Students either stage a novel too literally or ignore what makes theatre uniquely powerful.

Key teaching points:

• Economy of props and doubling: Use minimal set elements to suggest place—e.g., a single seat and a scarf can imply a stadium terrace.
• Choreography as exposition: In Gerry & Sewell, choreographed crowd sequences show football culture without large crowds.
• Sound and projection: Contemporary productions (2025–26) leverage projections to show montage and archive material—useful when adapting rich backstory.

Practical studio task: Stage a 3-minute terrace scene for 4 actors with only 3 props and no set. Focus on rhythm, call-and-response, and scent of place.

Lesson plan: Adapting a novel for stage and screen (90–120 minutes)

This plan is designed for secondary or tertiary drama/creative writing classes and can be split across two sessions.

Learning objectives

• Students will identify the narrative spine and condense a scene without losing thematic intent.
• Students will map a clear character arc and justify focus for adaptation.
• Students will create a short staged excerpt using theatrical compression techniques.

Materials

• Excerpt from The Season Ticket (1,200–1,500 words)
• Sample scenes from Purely Belter (film clip) and Gerry & Sewell (stage clip, if available)
• Beat-sheet templates, character arc worksheet, staging checklist (downloadable PDFs)
• Basic props, projector or whiteboard, audio playback

Timing & activities

1. 10 mins — Hook and briefing: Play a 60-second clip, pose the adaptation problem.
2. 20 mins — Narrative spine activity: In groups, students create a 10-beat sheet from the excerpt.
3. 30 mins — Condensation workshop: Each group reduces the excerpt to a 400-word scene and marks which beats remain.
4. 20 mins — Staging lab: Groups stage a 3-minute excerpt using only 3 props and one musical cue.
5. 10–20 mins — Performance and debrief: Peer feedback using a rubric focused on clarity of spine, character arc, and theatricality.

Assessment

• Rubric criteria: fidelity to chosen spine, clarity of protagonist’s arc, effectiveness of staging choices, creativity of condensation.
• Formative: Instructor notes and peer rubric.
• Summative (optional): Rewritten 2-page scene with a 300-word rationale explaining adaptation choices.

Templates and cheat-sheets (copy-paste ready)

Narrative condensation checklist

• Have I stated the spine in one sentence?
• Does every scene advance at least one spine beat?
• Which scenes can be merged without losing emotion?
• Can music or choreography replace exposition?
• What subplots can be suggested, not shown?

Character arc template (3-point)

1. Beginning: External goal + internal deficit
2. Midpoint: Decision or reversal that forces choice
3. End: Outcome and inner change (even if tragic or ambiguous)

Staging decisions matrix

• Space: Intimate (social club) vs. Proscenium (West End)
• Cast size: Small doubling vs. large ensemble
• Sound: Diegetic (match day) vs. Non-diegetic (score)
• Projection: Background context vs. active storytelling
• Physicality: Naturalistic vs. stylised/choreographed

Advanced strategies and 2026 trends

Adaptation practice in 2026 reflects technological and cultural shifts. Include these modules in advanced courses:

• AI-assisted condensation: Use supervised AI tools to generate beat-summaries and multiple condensed drafts, then apply human editorial judgement. Teach students to treat AI output as draft material, not a final script.
• Virtual table-reads and remote workshops: Since 2024–2026, remote rehearsals are standard. Teach students how to conduct efficient online table reads and gather director/actor notes.
• Transmedia adaptation: Consider podcast spinoffs, short-form social films, or site-specific audio tours that extend a stage adaptation’s reach.
• Ethical adaptation & rights: Cover option agreements, moral rights, and community consent—especially when adapting real communities. Recent West End lifts have increased scrutiny on representation and crediting regional collaborators.

Common pitfalls (and how Gerry & Sewell avoids/illustrates them)

• Too many scenes, not enough weight: Gerry & Sewell reduces episodic gambits into emblematic set-pieces.
• Flattening voice: Maintain regional idiom through dialogue and rhythm; music and chorus can amplify local voice.
• Over-reliance on exposition: Use action and character choice to reveal backstory, not monologue.
• Forgetting live energy: Small-cast theatre thrives by turning constraints into invention—use staging to create crowd dynamics.

Sample classroom deliverables (plug-and-play)

Use these templates as assignment prompts or handouts:

• One-page adaptation rationale: 300 words outlining spine, protagonist, and three staging choices.
• Scene reduction task: 1,200 words → 400 words plus staging note (1 paragraph).
• Character arc map: Three-state chart with evidence from text/scene.

“Good adaptation is less about fidelity and more about fidelity to effect: what must the audience feel and know?”

Case study synthesis: What Gerry & Sewell teaches us

Gerry & Sewell demonstrates a resilient workflow for adaptation: anchor on core human needs, compress episodic material into dramatic beats, and use the medium’s strengths—be it camera intimacy or live communal energy—to create meaning. Because the play moved from a tiny club to the West End, it also highlights scalability: choices that work in small spaces (immediacy, direct address, small-cast doubling) can be reframed for a larger stage without losing intimacy.

Next steps for educators and creators

Implement one module this term: pick either the condensation workshop or the staging lab. Use the templates above and integrate AI tools carefully—teach photocritical literacy so students evaluate machine suggestions against artistic intent.

Downloadable resources & call-to-action

Want the full lesson packet—beat-sheet templates, character arc PDFs, grading rubrics, and a one-page instructor guide? Download the pack, try the 90-minute workshop, and share student outcomes with our community for peer feedback and curriculum badges.

Ready to teach your adaptation unit with confidence? Download the lesson pack, run the condensation workshop next week, and submit one student scene for a free peer review. If you’re building a curriculum, sign up for our quarterly update on adaptation trends (including AI tool reviews and West End case studies) to keep your syllabus current through 2026.

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