THROW AWAY YOUR RULES; WE'RE MAKING THEM UP - BY KYLE HUFF

Having worked in theatre for a decade or more, I’ve always heard the same message when it came to the role actors have in any given production: stay in your lane. Everyone has a job and you stick to doing your own. As an actor, this includes being onstage and making choices with your character. Any creative choice that has to deal with production (set, staging, lighting, etc.) is all done by their own respective designers. This is done so toes do not get stepped on and egos can remain in check for the creative process to breathe. However, this process, working with Seat of the Pants on THE BOOK CLUB PLAY, has helped to reveal conventions are only what we decide them to be. This process has dared to ask: what happens if we remove those role barriers? What happens if toes get stepped on, or rather, what if we rethink about stepping on toes at all? What if every person in the room can speak their mind about costuming, set, characters, and more, respectfully and freely, without reprisal or judgement?

That's what I have found SotP’s production of THE BOOK CLUB PLAY has asked of all of us. The structure of rehearsal is extended, as is the main mode at SotP, which gives more time to the entire creative team to live in a piece. It was quite a surprise getting into the first rehearsal and hearing the set and lighting designer truly say, “I have some ideas, but I haven't really written anything down.” I had never come into the process where designers had purposefully waited to begin, not due to ignorance or forgetfulness, but because they wanted to see what inspired the actors in the piece. Even further, we have been developing the staging of THE BOOK CLUB PLAY as we go.

The play is set mostly in the living room of Ana’s house. It would be easy and light work to plop the audience in front of a proscenium stage, put some furniture in the middle of the stage, and call it a day. What we've been encouraged to do instead is to stage it in any way we feel suits the story. I haven't been in a process in which every voice in the room is utilized to craft the staging. On the surface, this may seem chaotic but I've noticed how streamlined it has been. The designers are more informed on what is inspiring us to move in the piece and in turn I've been inspired by what the designers are coming up with and contributing. It results in this creative locomotive that continually pushes the story process forward. I'm not sure we would have had the ability to accomplish this in another rehearsal space with the “normal” amount of time given to shows.

Lastly, not only is the staging being created collaboratively, but director Chris Bohan has decided to let us first create the words in rehearsal as well. This cast has been doing almost all improv scene work, with no scripts on stage, to help settle into these characters. Being completely new to this, I was terrified and excited at the prospect of just making it up. What I've found so far is it's a lot like experienced residents roaming the streets of this story. There's no such thing as wrong turns, because you always know your way home. The more we get to know the characters, the more we know the story, the bolder the risks we take. Chris Bohan’s knowledge of the Michael Chekhov technique has given a fantastic base for doing improv work, and I can feel this story starting to take exciting and unexpected new turns.

I hope everyone who sees it is as excited as we are making it!