the atrocity of this future world

A fellow playwright whose advice is impeccable helped nail one aspect i’d been trying to bring out… how to rationalize Vera running instead of staying put and trusting the system. There’s something fishy about it, they way they won’t admit how much damage the rebellion is really doing, won’t even allow the rebellion ten minutes onscreen. Her mention of the Rebellion is censored. The society they live in, despite its benefits and amazing possibilities, is also built on lies and death. There are a couple of possible atrocities they could commit. Sacrificing Mortals to add to their extant virus information – so they can track viruses across the Cities… that’s one possibility. Or perhaps there’s a worse, 22nd century form of genocide. Well that’s a happy thought. How cheery this play is. It’s just non-stop wads of cheer.

Open Rehearsal

The focus was to honor all of the actors with a script worthy of this group, you made it look great and sound great and you should hear that as soon as possible.

Always thank the one with the thankless task first. So thank you to the hard-working and *fluent* Karin, doing the thankless task of reading stage directions. Larry gracefully switching between BEARER 1 and DAMIAN. Colleen, the Russian embassy needs a translator. Joe, you put Chiron in a Leisure suit and gazillionaired like a gazillionaire… imagine if it were “three-sexillionaire” (3 with 18 zeroes). Kimberly you made everyone want to take Japanese drugs (big surprise). Kirsten you found the cuore (heart) of Vera. Chris you picked the damn script up cold tonight and brought us the character of Net. Matt, you got us in there. Courtney made sure people found the place. Thank you all.

The play is by no means finished, but what we heard tonight was material that will for the most part survive, possibly cut down (cutting is a favored way to improve a script).

The actors took the material and were able to fly with it. That means the indirection is there, the voltage is in the wire and actors can take the material and make it their own.

The hard work is starting to pay off. But coffee break’s over, time to get back on my head.

An early draft is out there

Sent the early draft – pre first draft – to the cast for the open rehearsal. It’s 9 scenes, from the fugue at the beginning through 8 more movements. At this point, if I hear it works and it’s off the beaten path, that’s what I need to hear. If it doesn’t work, I’ll fix it. It’s a complex piece and it’s lucky there are so many seasoned players in the group; what they got tonight is a workout… but it’s going to be fine.

Questions I plan to ask Friday –

1. Are we starting to get the stuff across?

2. Some characters are boldly drawn and others are a little blurrier, depending on how close they are to the focus. Who are these people?

3. The story moves against a world hanging in the background. Mortal Coil is a whole world, but if you live in a world you don’t go round talking about it, you’d just live there. Are the rules of the world clear?

… and surely more questions will come.