Final Countdown

I have a headache.

I have to call my playwright and tell him we cut half of the projections from the show.

It had to happen. It was a wise idea. It was inevitable.

Lesson learned. Unless you are working with a theater with tens of thousands of dollars budgeted for multi media resources - these things are a headache. Even with tens of thousands of dollars, they sometimes fail miserably. And often, they weren't necessary in the first place.

These last few days before opening a show bring on both the headaches (see Lighting Designer who worked his way through a run with a migraine last night) and amazing clarity. When all of the pieces are finally (finally!) in place, the story suddenly emerges. This stands particularly true with a play like this, which relies heavily on it's technical elements. I sort of feel like I haven't actually known this play until just last night. And that I still have a lot to learn about it.

The actors are going through the same journey. We made a discovery last night that seemed at once completely obvious (Why didn't I realize that before!?) and like an absolute revelation. With the adjustment the scene became active, mysterious, even a little scary.

And it was all so simple. Recognizing the givens. Investing in the situation. Reacting honestly to the circumstances. Talking and listening to each other.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my Acting 101 for the day. You can do all you want with remembering the taste of your first kiss, with knowing the heat of a field of burning coals, you can Meisner all day and Strasburg all night, but it is amazing what that little adjustment will do.

Breathe. Listen. Know where you are coming from. Know what you want.

We will see how tonight goes. Things are still settling. I am suddenly extremely nervous to have the playwright in town. What if he hates every decision that I've made? That is certainly his right. I wonder what he thinks he is walking into. Even after working on this play long distance for over a year, I realized today that we may indeed have very different ideas about how it is supposed to work. And with him several time zones away, all I could do was trust my instincts and do what I felt served the story.

I am confident now that I have done these two things. Rather, that we have all - actors, designer, stage manager - done these two things.

We will see how he feels.

I have a headache. Still.