This is my first entry into my online diary/log of my experience directing the premiere of John Glore's Preludes & Fugues. I hope to detail the ups and downs of the rehearsal process, the challenges, the revelations, the surprises, and the frustrations that come about from directing this play. Maybe it will provide a little insight to you the reader and perhaps it will give me a platform to unload, share and even unwittingly reveal myself through these late night missives. Please feel free to comment, opine, suggest, rant, and discuss!
So..to begin at the beginning...rehearsals got under way on Tuesday evening with the cast (Jeremy Gabriel, Robert Seay, Michelle Silver, Kristen Brennan, Ray Paolantonio), John Glore, Lindsay Allbaugh (my assistant), and Matt McCray (Artistic Director and Production Manager extraordinaire on this show). We took care of all the preliminary business that needs to get taken care of at the first rehearsal. Unfortunately, the designers (or the ones we have hired so far) were not present to share their ideas with the cast. It is always exciting to have the design team speak about the play in visual and tangible terms. It can sometimes begin to define the world of the play or give an idea of the playing field in which the actors are to play. So...no designers but we did do the obligatory read-thru of the play. I have to say that in general I find these table readings pretty useless. They seem to only fulfill the desire of the actors to speak the words they have been anxiously waiting to speak for days, weeks, or even months. On the other hand, this is a new play and the playwright is present, so it is useful to hear the play and begin to closely examine the writing and how it feels in the mouths of actors.

I decided to work outside of my traditional box tools in the rehearsal room whenver possible. So, also, to that end, did I jump into the idea of a first rehearsal reading of the script. The next two days we spent sitting around the table reading and discussing the scenes more closely.

I hope to continue trying out new things for me as a director during this project and I will inform you of their successes and failures. One thing I am trying for the first time as a director with SOSE is the practice of "checking in" at the top of rehearsal. This is a ritual/tool that I picked up at Shakespeare & Company (Lenox, MA) many years ago that I have found to be incredibly useful. SOSE now practices "checking in" at all of our staff meetings, company meetings, and rehearsals (The Mysteries was the first project where we actively practiced it). What is "checking in"? Simply stated, it is a way for everyone in the room to say what they need to say at the top of a particular session in order to be present in the room and ready to work. Too often we come into our work sessions (rehearsals or meetings) with baggage or energy from our day and we don't take the time to acknowledge it and give voice to it before launching into something else. "Checking in" provides a structured form to give voice to what we need to say (be it sad, angry, happy, etc) briefly and efficiently. The 10 or 15 minutes we take from rehearsal to do this is time well-spent.

Breath.