Wednesday, May 27, 2009

"Development is over"

Howdy,

Scott called me tonight and said that development is over. The script with its subtle changes between last summer and this production is pretty much, or actually fully, in its completed state. The workshop at Clark and the discussion I had with him during that period took my understanding of the play to a very full place of ownership. No longer am I, or the actors, asking Scott - 'what does mean?'. We are on our way to production. The play is a product now. It almost has been for the past year - and I won't take this time to give voice to some frustrations about the cost of fire proofing a set, or window, or a trap door. Those elements are all deserving to be part of this play. The choice has always been to showcase the script and the acting. I must say that the acting is so rich in detail and courageous in its honesty that I crave these real elements so that the actors can remain fully engaged in the reality they are creating.
This idea that the play is a product is correct. The blessing of working with the same cast and almost same crew is that we all grow together. And the actors are growing. By the end of this week we will be ready to go into the theater for tech and to invite an audience in. However, we will have one more week of rehearsal. In that additional time we need to pace ourselves, we also get to take advantage of this gift, this place that all productions want to be in...'I wish I had more time'. If you had the time what would you do? We are going to take the time so that the actors can continue to own and love 'the problem' of the play. The continue to strengthen character behavior, embodying the characters, and to deepen their relationship. It is an opportunity to honor the complexity of the characters - while remaining simple, or adhering to the essence of the play. That is our goal over the next ten rehearsals. To put a rich foundation under the play, and to marry it with the technical elements, and share the play with an audience as courageously as we have been rehearsing and developing the play.

Goodnight,
Padraic

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