Pre-production Meeting

Howdy,

Okay, haven't blogged since The Dirty Talk, but I will try to keep this up during the process and I hope it is interesting. Had three conversations today about the play and realized a couple of things that might be of value to anyone tracking the development of the play. The most important thing that came up during a conversation with Cusi Cram about actor's becoming writers, and that is that Scott has done a wonderful job creating a poetic environment for a very honest conversation about faith and love to take place. Without going on about the beauty of the play, the thing that struck me is the great detail Scott took in the technical theatrical elements used to tell the story, i.e. props, lights, sound, set, costumes...well those are all the elements. The other care he took is the biblical references that are in the play and how these characters use them effectively to communicate intention, emotional state, and journey.
I also had a pre-production meeting with Jessica Felix, our excellent stage manager, in it we talked about how the Equity contract limits the technical elements we are allowed to use - this is closely defined as a 'workshop' production, so we are talking about the best way to effectively communicate the theatrical elements Scott's play needs to best illustrate the beauty and depth that reside in the story. Martin Andrew, set designer, and I have come up with some solutions for this - but mostly what we decided is to treat this process like a full fledged rehearsal process - and all solutions we come up for the rehearsal to solving the problems will probably be what present to the audience. So, as this blog will hopefully invite you into the process - the final presentation itself at The Public will be inviting you into the process by truly presenting a rehearsal room run of the play. Which is very exciting because June 20 & 21st is hopefully only the beginning of the long healthy life of Sweet Storm.

Padraic

Designers working on this show - Lea Umberger - costume designer, Sarah Sidman - lighting designer, and Betsy Rhodes - sound designer all from THE DIRTY TALK, and I'm excited to be working with Jessica Felix Stage Manager, Martin Andrew - set designer, and actors Jamie Dunn and Eric T. Miller.