Wollongong's premier theatre company is keen to hear your thoughts on a new work being developed for the stage, an adaption of Catherine McKinnon's novel Storyland, which was a finalist in the Miles Franklin literary awards.

"I was keen to do it as a play and I thought it would be easier, because I thought 'I know all the characters and i know all the stories'," Dr McKinnon said.

"I know that adaption is quite hard ... but I thought 'this won't be hard it's my own work'. It is a big, and you do have to go through it all ... there are no shortcuts."

Just like the book, the stories (of past and present) are set around Illawarra waterways and surrounding land like Dapto Creek (Dabroo), Mount Kembla (Djenbella), Mullet Creek (Yowingmillee), and on into Lake Illawarra (Jubborsay).

It has separate narratives spanning different centuries while the characters are connected by blood, history, place and memory - together telling a story of change.

Read more:

The only other hurdle is there is so much of the story intertwined that it is hard to cut it down.

"It's quite a long book and and you can't just do a long book like that ... in a two-hour slot otherwise you lose too much," Dr McKinnon said.

"This is probably going to be a five-hour event that you'd see over two nights."

Elongated stage plays are not unheard of - just look at the success of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child running in Melbourne. Cloudstreet and The Harp in the South are also other successful stage adaptions spread across two sittings.

"There's two developments this year and this is the first one - kind of like the cautious on - here we've got this five hours of material, how does it play, what is it like," Dr McKinnon said. "Then I think it's scheduled [to premiere] next year."

A number of actors read through a draft script of the work and bring several characters - described as rebellious sidekicks - to life, with tales of survival and destruction.

There's no set ticket price for the show, which kicks off at 11am, patrons choose the amount (though there is a "no-show fee" of $20 per seat). Audience reactions and feedback will help shape the play furhter.

Storyland was published by Harper Collins in 2017, and was was also shortlisted for the Barbara Jefferis Award and the Voss Literary Prize, and long listed for the lndie Book Awards.

The adaption for the stage was made possible through MerrigongX, an annual artists' program focussed on supporting artists in producing a work for the stage.

In March, the program announced $350,000 in investment for the development of new projects by 21 independent artists - with financial, technical, marketing and artistic resources.

Storyland: Development Showing is on from 11am Saturday April 24 in the Bruce Gordon Theatre, Illawarra Performing Arts Centre. To book a ticket, visit: www.merrigong.com.au

The story Jamberoo author is adapting her book into a five-hour play first appeared on the Illawarra Mercury.

We depend on subscription revenue to support our journalism. If you are able, please subscribe here. If you are already a subscriber, thank you for your support.