Sometimes the plan needs to change. The project stalls, the audience doesn’t respond, or the brilliant idea turns out to be considerably less brilliant in practice. In this episode of Nutty & Slutty, we talk about how to adjust course without making everyone who believed in the original direction feel foolish for showing up. [more]

The playwright writes the play. The director makes the play happen. That sounds like a clean division of labor, but it rarely is. A play that seems perfectly clear on the page may become confusing the moment actors speak it aloud. A scene the playwright considers devastating may get an unintended laugh; a speech the director expects to stop the show may leave the audience restless. [more]

There are few experiences more gratifying to a playwright than a successful table read. You hear the dialogue spoken aloud. The actors laugh. A scene you have been staring at alone for six months suddenly breathes. Even the stage directions sound good. By the end, everyone is congratulating you and saying some version of, “You’ve really got something here.” You go home convinced the play works. It may not. [more]

There is a point in rehearsal when everyone begins to suspect the play may be terrible. The actors have learned enough of it to recognize the problems but not enough to disguise them. The director’s early confidence has become oddly specific: “Let’s try entering two beats sooner.” The playwright sits in the corner pretending to make useful notes while privately wondering whether a different profession might still be possible. [more]

Every rehearsal room contains at least one imposter. Usually, it's everyone. Actors worry they've been miscast. Directors wonder if they have any idea what they're doing. Designers fear their best work is behind them. Playwrights sit quietly, convinced that sooner or later everyone will discover that the script was a lucky accident. [more]

The distance between the page and the rehearsal room is one of the most fascinating aspects of theatre. A script is not a finished artwork in the same way a novel is. It is a set of instructions, possibilities, provocations, and questions. Rehearsal is where those possibilities are tested against living bodies, voices, space, and time. [more]