Any author might be apprehensive about seeing their book adapted to a different medium.
When the book deals with a particularly harrowing period in that author's life, that trepidation can only increase.
Shannon Molloy says he was nervous about what a stage adaptation of his 2020 memoir Fourteen might look like.
Fourteen, subtitled "My year of darkness, and the light that followed", tells the story of a year in Molloy's life - 1999 - when he was a 14-year-old year nine student at a rugby-mad Catholic boys school in Yeppoon, Queensland.
And, secretly, discovering and trying to deal with the fact he was gay.
It was a turbulent and traumatic year. Molloy had supportive family members and friends but he was savagely bullied, tormented and betrayed - not just by other boys, but by adults, too.
He was so devastated by one particular act of cruelty that, in despair, he nearly took his own life.
But he survived and would thrive, going on to a successful career as a journalist and author and finding happiness as a husband and father.
Despite being released during the pandemic, limiting the opportunities for publicity, the book was well received and became a bestseller.
Given how deeply personal the story is, it's not surprising Molloy had some uncertainty about giving the rights to turn it into a stage production.
But although he was surprised to be approached and a little cautious, he was very happy with how Queensland theatre company Shake & Stir's stage version turned out.
"They saw the heart of my story and were very respectful of it," he said.
"The amazing thing was how open they were to collaboration - I was in the room."
Molloy was part of the writing team, along with Nick Skubij, who also directed, and Nelle Lee. He felt listened to and valued as part of the process and he understood changes such as deletions and streamlining needed to be made in adapting Fourteen to the stage.
Conor Leach plays Shannon throughout but the other six actors play multiple roles, bringing to life the teachers, relatives, friends and enemies he dealt with during the year.
One deleted scene was Molloy's encounter with Neighbours star Brooke Satchwell, who gave him encouragement and comfort and told him he would find his place. The scene was in the script up until the first week of rehearsals.
"It was a tough decision that that particular scene had to go," Molloy says - but it was too long and didn't link to anything else.
Another omission, that he says "broke my heart", was leaving out his supportive eldest brother, in order to keep the characters the actors had to play to a manageable number.
Helping bring the period to life is a soundtrack of 1990s songs from the likes of The Spice Girls and Shania Twain.
In one scene, Shannon develops a crush on a boy and the accompanying song is Sixpence None the Richer's Kiss Me.
Also evoking the period are the clothes.
"My era was dorky," Molloy says - replete with low-rise jeans, fluoro T-shirts, baseball caps worn backwards, and other fashions that seemed cool at the time.
Then there's the school uniform - blazer, shirt and tie, shorts, long socks and black shoes - that was never cool.
Fourteen marked a departure and a challenge for Shake & Stir.
The company largely made its name name by adapting classic works of fiction to the stage, among them 1984, Animal Farm, A Christmas Carol.
This was the first time they had adapted a non-fiction work - and one where the author was alive.
Skubij says, "I liked that it was a true story."
Molloy's experiences rang true for many people who read the book or saw the play, which premiered in Queensland in 2022.
Skubij grew up in the same era and added some of his own favourite tracks to the music mix - part of the collaborative process.
"The book was so great because the storyline was confined to that 12-month period," he says, enabling the writers to focus clearly on certain pivotal events for the play.
They made it clear that things did get better for Molloy, an important message given some of what happened over the course of the year.
Molloy didn't want to be involved in casting - "That's their area of expertise" - but when it came to who would play him, "I asked if I could have a peek."
He saw three video auditions and says, "They were all great but the absolute standout was Conor."
Rather than read a pre-existing piece of material for his audition, Leach took the book and from it created three simple scenes to read.
"He was perfect," Molloy says.
Molloy secretly sent Leach's video to his mother who called back very soon afterwards with a ringing endorsement, saying that not only did Leach have her son down pat in terms of his performance but even looked like him when he was younger.
Skubij says that although Molloy's story took place at a very specific time in a very specific place and his experiences were his own, "The themes are so universal" : the stage version, he says, has resonated with people who have gone through or are going through similar experiences or who could identify with the ideas of questioning identity and seeking a safe and happy place in the world.
"The story is relatable - young people are coming with their parents and seeing themselves.
"People are relating to the circumstances at a visceral level."
A production company has optioned the screen rights to the book so another version of Fourteen should appear sooner or later. Molloy says that in whatever medium Fourteen is experienced, "It all comes back to the story... Even if your life feels like 100 per cent hell in the moment, it rarely is."
There are, he says, always "little glimmers of hope" - acts of kindness, people who are there for you, things that make you happy.
"It's easy to lose sight of that at the time," he says - or to forget when looking back decades later.
While Molloy faced a lot of cruelty, he also had some close friends, protective siblings, a loving and supportive mother, and pleasurable experiences.
And things did, ultimately, get better.
"That's the reality of life - up and down, darkness and light."
Fourteen is on at the Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, from May 9 to 11. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.
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