The Workshop

I haven't posted for a while, in part because work and life have intruded on my performance-going. But I did want to follow up briefly on my last self-promotional post re a recent event/conversation/sharing that reaffirmed for me the intelligence and generosity and care for good work that the theatrical community in this city daily makes manifest to me.

I'm referring to the workshop earlier today for my monologue that will be part of the Solo Flights program on April 23 at Studio 1398 on Granville Island. I had met earlier last week with Dave Deveau, my dramaturg, to discuss the piece, but this was the first time we'd be meeting with the actress who'd been selected to speak my turgid prose, and to work through collectively what was working and what wasn't. First off, I've totally lucked out in securing the amazing Kerry Sandomirsky as the actor for my piece. When she first read through the monologue, it was revelatory. I had a vision of how this woman sounded in my head, but it was nothing like the depths Kerry tapped on just her first read through.

But then the questions came, from Kerry and Dave, and they were smart and on point, and made me see things and forced me to clarify and defend choices that I had just taken for granted in my totally absorbed writer's way. The two hours flew by, and in the best sort of way, where one comes out energized and itching to get at the revisions one has been tasked with--in order to make the work better, so that it befits the level of talent of one's collaborators.

I have until Monday to get those revisions done, and wouldn't you know that I have a trip to Toronto to attend a conference in the interim (on Performance Studies in Canada, which I hope to report on in a future post). But what are plane rides for?

Here's hoping no one is too disappointed with the results.

P.