There was a time when I was directing that I would have these monster study sessions where I would sit down with the script and spend hours digging through the scripts and taking notes. This habit, I am sure, comes from graduate school in which we were given very little time to write a small encyclopedia about the play. For years, I thought this was the only way to do it. Unfortunately, the other habit that followed from grad school is the urge to procrastinate until the very last moment. I do not know how that made the project any more fun or effective, but old habits die hard. But that has changed.Now my basic theory/schedule of play analysis is to begin with a full reading of the play in one sitting without interuption – – much like an audience would experience the play in its viewing. Then, I just keep the play in my backpack and when I have the odd 15 minutes or so waiting in the doctor’s office, I pull out the script and spend the short block of time focused on a single small issue – like what are all the events that happen offstage in door #1. Nothing else – – just the events that happen behind this one door. Or I may just read the play for the small role of the butler. What does this butler do? Why is the butler even in the script? What happens to the butler when he is offstage? How does the butler change from the first to the last moment?
In short, I am breaking the long, daunting job of preparing a play from one mass Thanksgiving meal to be consumed in one afternoon – -to a series of small snacks s that go down easily and become much easier to eat/explore in the midst of a busy day. Even designing these small projects leads me to a better understanding of the play – and certainly leaves me wanting more. Snack food always leaves you hungry. Hunger, in this case, is good!