Simon Reade, who collaborated with Salman Rushdie in adapting the novel “Midnight’s Children” for the stage, will present a lecture at 7 p.m. Feb. 4 in Lorch Auditorium.

The lecture, “From Page to Stage: Adapting Rushdie’s ‘Midnight’s Children,'” is free and open to the public.

Reade, a dramaturg (a specialist in dramatic composition), worked with Rushdie and the play’s director Tim Supple for 18 months transforming the million-word novel to a script for the stage production. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), during its 16-day residency on the Ann Arbor campus, will present an innovative staging of this work March 12-16 at the Power Center.

Reade has worked widely as a dramaturg in England, including a long relationship with the RSC. Among other projects, he worked with Michael Boyd, current artistic director of the RSC, on the company’s celebrated productions of Shakespeare’s history tetralogy, presented in its U.S. premiere at U-M in 2001. Reade now is artistic co-director of the Bristol Old Vic Theater, the oldest theater in continuous operation in England.

Reade’s presentation is co-sponsored by the Department of English and Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs.