About

A program of Z Space, Word for Word brings works of literature to the stage and now to podcast, all performed verbatim by the multiple characters of the story. Word for Word's mission is to tell great stories with active theatricality, staging performances of classic and contemporary fiction. Instead of adapting a script, they use every word of a text in a dynamic, evocative style that preserves the original beauty of the prose. Over the last twenty five years Word for Word has performed short stories of over 100 writers, ranging from Alice Munro to Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff, and James Baldwin.
Word for Word believes in the power of the short story to provide solace, compassion, and insight into our daily lives.

The new podcast series - launched in September with The Machine Stops by E.M. Forster - now expands with new podcasts.

Citizen by Greg Sarris

Pt. 1 released January 14
Pt. 2 released January 21
Directed by Gendell Hing-Hernández

“Citizen” tells the tale of Salvador, born in the U.S., raised in Mexico; son of an American Indian mother and a Mexican father. He has returned to California to find his mother, or rather, her grave. Working in the fields and ranches around Santa Rosa, he meets his mother's family, encountering both kindness and opportunism, as well as glimmers of hope. An American citizen, who speaks no English, Salvador procures his proof of citizenship and begins to discover his true identity, and what it means to belong.