Blog #6: Working, reworking and not working

Blog #6: Working, reworking and not working The second to last workshop. Things are becoming clearer and the work is piling up. Here’s this week's overview: 1) A revelation...The director focusses his efforts on the writing rather than on the rehearsed reading. Process v product. 2) There’s nothing sadder than seeing a middle-age man cry. 3) Actors continue to be problematic. 4) Lot’s of behind the scenes work. 5) The lord giveth and the lord taketh away. I thought that this week, as the play was (in my mind) more straight-up-and-down than the complex structure/themes/concepts of last week’s offering, that there would be less discussion between the director and the writer. But I was wrong. The director really got stuck in, and if anything was more aggressive (in a directorial way). A lot of negative thoughts can go through one’s mind when you are witnessing such a merciless deconstruction (shreading?) of one’s work. I had to put all negative thoughts like “maybe if you go to the toilet and don’t come back, no one will notice”, or “will he stop if I start blubbering uncontrollably?” out of my mind. Actually that last one was a distinct possibility of actually happening. But is there anything sadder or more pathetic than watching a middle-age bloke blubber? So I focussed on the endgame and the reasons why we hired a professional director in the first place. He was just doing his job. He was being paid to get results, and there was very little time to do that. So no muckin’ about, no blubberin’, just get to the heart of the matter and push on. The upshot of which was a rewritten play which I hope is stronger and more acceptable to an audience. And I had a revelation: he was focussing on the writing process not the product of performance. Which makes sense, but might be lost to actors and writers intent on making a product (a performance). I guess it's important to remember, without a good process, it's unlikely there can be a good product. Getting actors to stay with the project continues to be the main problem. As mentioned in a previous blog, if you are thinking about doing something like this, you have to consider the notion “What do they, the actors, get out of this?”. It’s a long time to stick with a process when there isn’t the smell of grease paint and the blare of the lights of a performance at the end of it. Actors want to be in front of an audience testing their skills not being reading fodder in a play’s development. Just about every week we have had one or two pull out on the day. I was hoping that as we got closer to the public ‘performance’ of the rehearsed readings we might see a little more commitment, but alas, no. Nonetheless, a core group is slowly emerging, which hopefully we can rely on to turn up on the day. Basically, if you want things done you will have to do them yourself. This isn’t someone else’s project, it’s yours. So there’s a lot of behind the scenes work. Writing plays is the least of it. Probably because writing plays is not a chore whereas rounding up cats (aka organising actors), preparing invitations and programs, organising venues, printing and binding scripts, making sure the actors and director have a cuppa and something to eat, planning, preparing before and cleaning up after sessions, advertising, organising meetings, and generally running around like the Mad Hatter, is less enjoyable. Not least because it takes time away from writing and is very expensive. Speaking of expenses, I was sooo happy when I didn’t have to pay an honorarium to my ‘producer’ when she decided to work instead of turn up and contribute to the process. Having that extra money for printing and incidental expenses was a bonus...until I left the session and found that I hadn’t read the parking signage properly and was parked illegally in a Sunday loading zone. The fine was the exact amount that I ‘saved’. O well the lord giveth and the lord is a real bastard! End Blog #6