In the late spring I always end of picking the show that I will be directing in April of the following year. Then I somewhat drag that script with me through all of the summer months – on vacation, to the pool, even to NYC to see some theatre. I put it in a very nice binder and carry it with me everywhere. BUT I often spend the time just hiking it around promising myself to give it an hour or two but that hour or two just never happens. It reminds me of the time in high school when as a trombone player I would drag that big ass instrument home every blessed night, toss it in the corner of my bedroom and stare at it with guilt only while the commercials were playing on my bedroom TV. And this behavior didn’t just go on for a week or two – – it happened for four full years. Dragging it home nightly was never going to make me a musician only a guy with one arm much longer then the other!
But plays are different. Plays are like stew. There truly is something of value in reading and playing with a script as early in the process as you can and then just taking that script and tossing it aside – – for weeks, even months if possible and letting it go from vegetables, meat and broth to something that resembles a hearty stew. Now I have not yet gotten brave enough to actually leave my script for the spring production at home (I guess I am always a bit afraid that Armegadon will happen, before the production and I won’t be ready for those actors – – who I guess would have auditioned after the Apocolypse.)
Now untethered from the script and the pressure of being creative (damnit!). I am free to be creative. Now as I take a walk or go for a swim or guiltily watch an episode of Cops, ideas come popping into my head. I see a moment. I have a new question. I want her to stand in the corner. He needs to reach with this moment. How about barefoot? “Dan Fogelberg-like” guitar for Act 2 and on and on. Trust stew. Keep the lid on. Let time work for you. Allow don’t force.