Recently,
I had the privilege to work with some amazing artists on the production of Empty Boxes, a play I wrote back in
2006. This was the first time my solo
work was being produced and we were doing it completely on our own accord. Naturally, we had some major learning moments
presented to us along the way. In the
spirit of this blog, here are the things I learned working as a playwright:
1. BE ON THE SAME PAGE AS THE DIRECTOR
This is probably the most important of these
lessons. Before you start into the
process, you should sit down with your director and review the script and each
of your individual visions for the piece.
You absolutely have to be on the same page as your director from the
beginning; if not, you are begging for conflict later in the process. Make sure that you are clear about important
moments during these initial conversations (especially if those moments are
happening in stage directions). The
director may not stage them exactly as you had in your mind, but if they know
the meaning behind why you wrote it like that, they can stay true to the
essence of the action. This type of
understanding can only come out of in-depth discussions without the other
artists in the room. Having these
conversations early will also develop the relationship and dialogue for giving
notes about the piece during the rehearsal process.
2. FIGHT FOR YOUR WORK
“No one knows the script better than you” was advice I
received from Jason Sherman and through the process of Empty Boxes, I learned the truth of that statement. In my day job as a stage manager, it is a
cardinal sin to give your opinion about the direction of a piece (without being
asked directly by the director, and even then, you walk a fine line). Keeping my mouth shut during the rehearsal
process is a trait that in heavily engrained in my soul, so flipping over to
the side of the playwright, where my opinion not only expected, but necessary,
was difficult (to say the least). There
were times during the process that I didn’t fight as hard as I should have for
specific things that I wrote in, thinking that the director had his vision and
I should respect that. I didn’t want to
over step my bounds. But, the tricky
thing with a new work is that for the first time out, the audience is expecting
to see the playwright’s vision more than the director’s. They don’t know the show, so they think this
is what the playwright wrote; so as the playwright, if there is something that
doesn’t sit well with you , it is your job to stand up and say so. This doesn’t need to be a confrontation, but
you can explain why something is important to the arc of the story. Which brings me to...
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