Theatrical Adaptation: A Conversation about Collaboration

Brendan Pelsue is a playwright, librettist and translator. His play Wellesley Girl premiered at the Humana Festival of New American Plays. Hagoromo, a dance-opera piece for which he wrote the libretto, appeared at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Recent projects include a new translation and adaptation of Molière’s Don Juan at Westport Country Playhouse, and Read to Me at Portland Stage, where he won the Clauder Prize. Commissions include South Coast Repertory, American Opera Projects, Westport Country Playhouse, the Alliance Theatre and the Actors Theatre of Louisville. Brendan was a 2023 MacDowell Fellow and a 2017 artist in residence at Château de la Napoule, France. Originally from Newburyport, MA, he received his MFA from Yale School of Drama and his BA from Brown University. He teaches at Rutgers University.