Tues Feb 24 - Table Day 2

Two couples. Two scenes. One diabolical writer. Result? So many horribly real ways love can go terribly wrong. Why must we be such selfish jerks? And why must our playwright have coded it in all such hideous beauty?

Of course, it is this very quality that draws almost everyone to the play. I've been asking everyone familiar with the play what they like about the script, and almost everyone says a variation on "it's just so real". I know what they mean, but it is that brute force honesty that makes the play so hard to watch. We're staging an emotional car crash, and we have to ensure full impact.

Full Cast Tonight! I am pleased by the generous give-and-take dynamic that is developing. The discussion and readings tonight sounded like a group who had been working together far longer than three rehearsals, both in terms of the general mood of the hall and in the clarity of thought going into the work. The two scenes worked (5 and 6) are the most complicated to block, both in terms of numbers and focus, so getting a clear grounding in the emotional shape of the scenes was my main objective. For bonus, we were able to discuss some key tactics in the breakup sequence.

In scene 5 (Gallery) it is essential that the entanglements seem that they may be carried off without terrible consequence or messy complications. We (the audience) have to like these characters, flawed though they may be, or nothing that follows will matter. There must be the promise of happily-ever-after. Without that lighter touch, the naked emotion of scene 6 (domestic interiors) could come off as a bunch of mean people hurting one another. And who would care enough to see that?

It is clear from the work tonight that the moment-by-moment sense of possibility is playable. There are several sections of 5 that give the actors the opportunity to use their wit and wiles to charm and enchant their scene partner - I think this is going to translate to an irresistable scene sequence overall. I am looking forward to putting it on its feet.

Scene 6. Gulp. This is where the bombing starts, each section brings another barrage of hard emotional truths and convenient self-deceptions. In the end, we're going to have to refocus on the playable, but in order to get there an entire backstory needed to be established and essential questions of character needed to be answered. Again, I felt the cast show excellent critical thinking in establishing these points, and we've made strong progress.

Unfortunately, we only got up to the point of Dan and Alice ending, with no time yet to dig into the raw edges of the last pages with Anna and Larry. On the one hand I am not too concerned - that section bleeds from the gut, and I think we'll explore it better in a physical rehearsal anyway. On the other - I need to watch how far we fall behind our posted schedule. We are now 2 scenes and 2 sections behind where we need to be to keep on track. Adding rehearsal is obviously not an option, and I do not want to rush the process too much when the group and cast dynamic is still gelling. I think I will have to sit down and think through the rest of this week and next to ensure we will cover all the necessary ground.

We had some visitors today - Raizie who will join us for props, and Tina, mistress of marketing both joined us to meet the cast and to get the flavour of the show. Thanks for coming, ladies!

Ahh now to sleep. Hope for no acrimonious messy humiliating break-up dreams. Love the play, but don't want it in my resting head tonight!