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Jim Knable Among Trevor's dedicated and passionate faculty, is a talented playwright who stepped into the spotlight this year when his skills were used for a streamlined revision and adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's e Man of Destiny. An English teacher at Trevor for four years, Jim Knable has been writing plays since high school and has won statewide and national contests for his ability to bring magic to the stage. Inspired by playwrights such as Sam Shepard and ornton Wilder, he wrote plays in college and graduate school, and he continues to be produced and published professionally. is year, he was approached about revising/adapting Shaw's e Man of Destiny into what became Destiny and the Little Man. Jim had previously worked with the show's producer in 2006 on Jim's play Spain, which was part of a larger summer festival; the two had stayed in touch. e producer immediately thought of Jim for the Shaw project—which combined a live music concert and a boutique kombucha tasting with the production, for a "full night out"—and put him into contact with the director. is was a new venture for Jim, who was mostly accustomed to writing and developing his own original works, but he found something oddly comforting about watching it in production. "I felt less anxious than I usually feel watching my own work, as this was truly a collaboration between George Bernard Shaw and myself and I could blame him for all the problems with the script," joked Jim. e production was met with rave reviews, including a write- up from the Village Voice. is was not the only exciting venture for Jim in the past year. He saw his play Green Man (a full-length adult play) produced in Los Angeles at STAGESeatre, e Magic Fish (an opera for young audiences) produced in Forest Hills, and his play Grip the Raven (about the time Charles Dickens and Edgar Allan Poe met) received a staged developmental reading through Yale Cabaret Hollywood. His first collection of plays, e Imaginary Plays: Spain, Saltimbanques, Green Man, was published by Samuel French last summer. Luckily for Trevor, Jim's passion for playwriting rivals his enthusiasm for teaching. He was able to bring Playwriting to the curriculum for 11th- and 12th-grade students, and he even introduced the medium to Middle School students during MiniTerm. He also offers a Dramatic Literature elective, teaching foundational classical, naturalist/realist, and expressionist works Oedipus Rex, e Misanthrope, A Doll's House, e Glass Menagerie, and Waiting for Godot (this year), offering insights into the creative process for these famous plays,from a playwright's perspective. When asked what he likes most about Trevor, Jim said, "e people—my students and my colleagues. ere is a sense that you can approach anyone at any time and find something interesting to talk about, whether school-related or not." Jim is very grateful for the support and enthusiasm he's received from the Trevor community. We wish Jim continued success in his ventures and hope that he continues to share them with Trevor. Faculty Spotlight 1 8 T R E V O R D AY S C H O O L n S U M M E R 2 0 1 5 – 2 0 1 6

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