Hiring the Director

One very cool aspect (continuing on this idea of aspects, which should please the astrologically inclined among us) of being the playwright producer is being able to hire directors. Did I say that already? It bears repeating. 

During the past 8 weeks I had the distinct pleasure of talking to 13 directors - people I variously admired and perhaps had met at various openings around town, but with whom I'd never had the chance to discuss a project. 

Some conversations were briefer than others - after all A New Theory of Vision is a real project with a real production date which means some brilliantly talented directors had real and not-so-brilliant schedule conflicts. 

In some cases also - two specifically, the directors actually read the script and told me that the project wasn't right for the kind of work they liked to do. Which was an interesting response.Do you find that directors are more comfortable turning down work due to creative or stylistic conflict than actors? When I feel more secure in my work myself, someday, might be moved to then ask a director what specifically they didn't like (although one did proffer an explanation, which only led to more questions in my mind, but since they'd turned the project down, didn't want to waste their time).

In most cases however the directors said yes enthusiastically (a massive relief, referring to aforementioned insecurities)  and then I had the weird problem of trying to find a fit amongst a group of incredibly brilliant and talented people, in each case trying to tell them they weren't the only person I was talking to (not wanting to waste their time - OOB directing is a tough enough job) but also wanting to have a good strong sense of how they'd attack the material. Attack is the principal word.

In the end, Cat Parker turned out to have a great affinity for the material, and was also generally delightful to work with. I mean, all the directors I chatted with were friendly and cool, but Cat had a specific and southern warmth and charm to her as well besides being brilliant). 

One thing I did learn. Directors who work the NYC downtown theatre scene are universally intelligent and sharp. These are definitely people you want to hang out with.

What it's Like - The First Eight Aspects

Sanctuary's model for operating is that the playwright is the center of the company.  Not a guest, but the host. In the largest sense. Host and host body.

Although Sanctuary has done this service for several other playwrights now, none have written about what it's like. This seems to leave a big hole in the imagination. Something needs to fill it.

Writing about the experience documents critical parts of its dynamics; makes it more likely Sanctuary will reproduce these dynamics from playwright to playwright. These are the heart of what someone would call the Sanctuary experience. By nature it's an experience few will really have (and we're not sure if Sanctuary will last forever).

So since now the process has chosen me to be the playwright, I plan to document what it is like to be the playwright/producer on a Sanctuary show:

1. Thinking hard about the site and its properties. The shouting properties of the space; its posession and rights to its neighborhood; its sense of dominating energies, its radiances, its shortcomings.
2. Pondering how do you tell the story you want to tell beyond the page and how do you make the script fit the story you want to tell? The script becomes less your calling card and the dynamics of the event begin to supplant it. Then acting on what one infers. 
3. Hearing again all those voices arguing in one's head - characters, critics, supporters, the excited for yous, the tired of hearing its.
4. Having the joy of talking to so many smart directors and getting to choose the one that is organically "right" for the piece and its process. These guys are all uniformly amazing.
5. Knowing how much money there is to spend and figuring out which expenditures are more important. I know this sounds boring, doesn't it? But it's not. Money is the power to do what needs to be done - power is inherent. If we're talking about the power in theatre being given to the playwright, we have to mean - at least in part - that the money is under their control.
6. Realizing that in a sense everyone serves the script - the story, really. In that sense the playwright is yet another midwife.
   
7. Experiencing the exhiliration of juggling the text - largely an object to be heard - and its impacts in the other realms of sensation.
8. Sadly noting that this documentation - fascinating though it might be - must be created peripatetically, as finishing the script and making it acceptable as the controlling document for this event is far more important than documenting the process, however much an honor it is.