Elk River Arts and Lectures (ERAL), Livingston Fringe Festival, and Opera Montana present a conversation between makers about The Art of Adaptations. Featuring Kelley Rourke and Isabel Shaida, this free conversation will explore questions including: Why do we adapt works? What does a good adaptation do? All are welcome on Tuesday, September 8 at 6 p.m. at Wheatgrass Books.

Kelley Rourke is a librettist, translator, and dramaturg. She has collaborated with composers including John Glover, Laura Karpman, Ben Moore, Kenji Oh, Zach Redler, Kamala Sankaram, Christopher Tin, and Wang Lu on new operas. Her modern English adaptations of numerous standard and not-so-standard operas have been hailed as “crackingly witty” (The Independent, London) and “remarkably well wedded to the music and versification in arias” (New York Times). She has written libretti for four youth operas, with performances across the country. She is the 2024 recipient of OPERA America’s Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, and she has received two commissioning grants from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Isabel Shaida is a company member of Nervous Theatre (Dancing Animals, Chalk Circle, A Marvelous Party) and teaches movement in Bozeman, where she has also been involved in productions across the valley (Kafka’s Monkey, Late, A Cowboy Song, Stand Stark Still, Songs for a New World, My Barking Dog). She has performed with Monica Bill Barnes & Co. (Days Go By, It’s 3:07 Again) and Double Edge Theatre (The Odyssey).

Co-founded in 2025 by Tessa Welsch and Kate Britton, Livingston Fringe Festival is a theatre festival featuring mostly new works showcasing Montana artists and performers.  This year’s festival includes sixteen productions and events at nine locations.

Founded in 1979, Opera Montana is Montana’s first professional opera company. From its early days presenting one grand opera per year, Opera Montana has grown to present two operas and one musical theatre production each season.

ERAL is Park County’s mainstay literary arts organization. Founded in 2013, ERAL aims to honor our literary heritage while inspiring a new generation of writers. For more information, email director@elkriverarts.org or call (406) 529-1682.