From book to stage, the Little Theatre premiere of local author Charlie Lovett’s ‘Escaping Dreamland’

By Judie Holcomb-Pack Just a little over ten years ago Charlie Lovett took a leap of faith, leaving his position with Summit School to write full time. He had been writer-in-residence in theatre arts, where he wrote numerous plays for student productions during his 11 years at Summit. With the publication of “The Bookman’s Tale” in 2014, which became a New York Times best seller, Lovett decided the time was right to make a career change.  So much has happened in that short time: “The Bookman’s Tale” was published in 2014; ”Escaping Dreamland” was published in 2020 (during the pandemic);  “Lewis Carroll: Formed by Faith” and “The Enigma Affair” were published in 2022. And he adapted his book “Escaping Dreamland” into a play.  Lovett said that over several years he had been asked, “Why don’t you adapt one of your books into a play?” He pondered the idea, but let it go until 2019 when Phil Powell, artistic director of the Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, again said, “You should adapt one of your books into a play.” After getting together with Mark Pirolo, former artistic director of 40+ Stage company, a meeting that stretched into a four-hour conversation, he knew...