THE LOOKBACK WINDOW to Be Adapted for Stage by Making Our Space

The New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice will inaugurate IN THE MAKING: A New Play Commission, an eight-month development initiative from Making Our Space Theatre Co.

Making Our Space Theatre Co. has commissioned author Kyle Dillon Hertz to adapt his acclaimed debut novel, The Lookback Window, for the stage as the inaugural selection of IN THE MAKING: A New Play Commission. Deepening Making Our Space's commitment to the development of ambitious new stage works after last season's THE LAST STOP reading series, IN THE MAKING is designed to support a writing process through sustained artistic collaboration from script inception through workshopping and refinement, culminating in a final staged reading for the public and industry professionals. The commission is funded in part by the NYSCA/A.R.T. Creative Opportunity Fund.

As a company invested in platforming unique perspectives and telling timely, challenging stories, MOS was drawn to Hertz's blistering and unapologetic writing. The Lookback Window confronts the lasting impact of childhood sexual abuse with unflinching honesty, tracing memory, survival, and healing to ask what it means to reclaim one's own story. Since its publication in 2023, The Lookback Window has earned widespread critical acclaim: 'Hertz has managed to tell a story of queer healing with all the narrative force of a thriller and the searing fury of an indictment. It's an achievement of language, of style, in which the process of finding one's way back to the world is considered at least in part as an act of learning to 'speak the unspeakable,'' (The New York Times). The novel was named a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and was shortlisted among the year's best books by Vanity Fair, People, CrimeReads, and Debutiful.

Development of the play will be helmed by MOS Director of New Works Spencer Whale (Broadway's Lempicka), working alongside dramaturg Dezi Tibbs (Oh, Mary!). MOS will pull back the curtain on the process through behind-the-scenes footage, updates, invite-only readings and discussions, along with educational content exploring the story's themes. Says Whale, 'IN THE MAKING reflects our company's deep desire to create support structures that help artists develop work they'd otherwise face barriers toward completing and to include an artistic community in that process. We couldn't dream of a better way to kick off this program than by collaborating with Kyle to adapt The Lookback Window into a new form with new constraints and new possibilities. We have the utmost confidence he'll develop a play that's every bit as funny, vulnerable, and cathartic as his novel, and we hope you'll follow along with us.'

Additional details regarding the development process, creative team, public presentations, and future production plans will be announced in the coming months.