STUMBLING INTO THE MAGIC OF NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT: BY LANA SUGARMAN
In January I had the opportunity to direct a staged reading of The Vase by Tyler Whidden as part of Seat of the Pants’ Salon Series. In these readings, the playwrights are often hearing their plays read aloud for the first time. Each reading is followed by a talkback where audience members are asked curated questions that will guide next steps in edits and rewrites. It is an opportunity for our patrons to ask questions about the playwright’s experience in crafting the piece up to this point.
Over the last 5 years I’ve directed 5 staged readings of new plays, 1 new musical, and a fully produced Rust Belt adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s Enemy of the People by Les Hunter. As an actor I have also had the opportunity to participate in several readings and world premieres. Often these processes are compressed – short periods of time to cast, rehearse, and share the piece with an audience. What I appreciate about this compression is that it requires clarity, curiosity, and a distillation of the themes and world of the play. This involves asking a lot of questions, looking for clues in the text, investigating the relationships and doing our best to illuminate this, live.
When directing new work, there is also great care and responsibility that comes in relating to the playwright and their words. I always appreciate hearing the origins of a play or musical – what inspired them to start writing, how long they’ve been living with the piece, and what they hope we’ll take away from it. Leaning into Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process has been helpful. She emphasizes the sharing of what was significant to us in receiving the work – what we found meaningful or evocative. How can we ask neutral questions and avoid sharing opinions at this early stage? How can I offer the actors a few specific notes so they can embody their characters more fully, or emphasize moments in the story that will support the narrative? Especially if we only have 1 or 2 rehearsals!
Two other spaces I have worked in that support play development are the Mid-America Theatre Conference (MATC), which happens once a year in various cities in the Midwest, and the Valdez Theatre Conference in Alaska, which happens for 1 week every summer. MATC curates a Playwriting Symposium of about 10 short plays. They also offer a ‘Pitch Your Play’ session where playwrights can share a 10-minute selection of a full length play and express why we might want to produce their show. This process includes 1 virtual meeting with the playwright, director, and dramaturg, 1 75 minute in-person rehearsal at the conference, and then a sharing of the piece, with script in hand, and minimal staging.
At Valdez, the process is similar, but the majority of the plays are full length pieces, so the in-person rehearsals are often 3-4 hours long. Both conferences have 1-3 respondents in the room to offer the playwrights feedback and facilitate a discussion with the audience.
One of the reasons I love being an ensemble member with Seat of the Pants is our commitment to being ‘Process-Driven’. In new play development we have the opportunity to nourish the seeds of a play, to watch it evolve, transform, expand or shed. Each actor and artist that comes into contact with the work contributes to its process. Join us for our next Salon Series on Saturday, April 26th: Olivia Matthews’ The Nativity: Starring Keisha Taylor, directed by Zyrece Montgomery and produced by Michael Glavan!
