Sunday, September 23 -- Day Thirteen:

Got up early,  got out the scissors and did what needed to be done with Act One. Then I put on some nicer clothes (from the Bay's Junior Playwright Department) and went to the Free Press News Cafe Arts Brunch. Everyone was dressed very very nicely, with Cherry's shoes a highlight as usual.  Brunch was tasty and we all remembered to use our cutlery. Evan HALL tried to steal Bob's bacon. We got interviewed, Bob and Cherry and I, and Bob did a really smooth turnaround when asked if any famous people got their start at PTE. He spoke instead about how PTE was one of a half-dozen companies who changed Canadian theatre forever by producing Canadian plays. PTE is why people like me have careers. Then the actors read a scene and it seemed to go over well. My dear mother and brother were there, and it's so nice to have fans.

After all that glamour it was back to rehearsal and I delivered my newly trimmed Act One. The actors kindly refrained from audible cheering when bits they can't stand ended up in the compost, but I did sense that the cuts were righteous. It was decided that I still have time to take one more kick at Scene Three, which has been driving me nuts for months now. It just has to be better, and I have a couple of days to make it so. Wish me luck.

Saturday, September 22 -- Day Twelve

Went in to watch the first what-we-in-the-theatre call "Stumblethrough." This means that the actors attempt, defying all known laws of probability and physics, to run the whole play after only having worked the individual scenes a couple of times. They must also try to remember where all the props are supposed to be (sorry about the props by the way) and what they're supposed to be doing with them. The actors and Stage Managers did amazing work, and seeing the run allowed me and the design team to see how things are shaping up. What I found out was that Act One is about eleventy-hundred minutes long. Time to get out the scissors. After the rehearsal, the BSSC (Brink Snacks and Social Committee, RobYn Slade, Chair) adjourned to the Current - see how we keep the water theme going even in our off hours? - for some well-deserved refreshments. Then I went to a movie with my husband, who looked familiar. I think he's the guy from the wedding but it's been a while.

Friday, September 21 -- Day Eleven

I haven't blogged in a couple of days, since I haven't been in rehearsal and have nothing to report. I've been home with sick kids, plus I know I'd only be in the way. They are doing scenework and I have to say I'm feeling just a little bit guilty. Bob emailed to say that yesterday's rehearsal was "all about packing boxes." I am also an actor, and I know there are some things you end up doing in a play that make you want to write to the playwright and say: "Really? was there no way to write this that would avoid me having to do this?" So actors:  I'm sorry about the box-packing scene but no, there wasn't any other way that I could think of and the story has to be told. So I'm sorry, but not really.
Also: I have not been cleaning my house as I said I would. Nor have I learned to play the guitar. Guilty.

And when you type the word "guilty" several times it starts to look weird. It's probably a word we could all stand to use less often. It's weird-looking and what good does it do?

Tuesday, September 18 -- after the day off:

All are agreed that one day off is not sufficient. All casts in the history of Equity have agreed on this. I was glad to get back to rehearsals though, because when I'm not actually there I have too much time to worry. But it's time to face facts: short of rethinking the whole cockamamie idea, there's not all that much I can do at this point. I can sit in on rehearsals as I did today, watching for small adjustments I can make to help the actors do what they need to do. But that's not the same as being needed at this stage in the process, is it? I'm sure they can do without my smartass comments. There are one or two scenes that I will really need to sit in on, but otherwise, I'm on call if needed. One concern: if I stay home I'll have to clean the house, and I am simply not ready to face that.

I think about music a lot these days, I guess because it helps me somehow to think of one creative process in terms of another. I was listening to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. I finally bought the CD the other day out of some need to satisfy my inner fifteen-year-old. Listen to those folks build a pop song! (This really does relate to playwrighting. Be patient. And if this isn't highbrow enough for you, I'll do one on opera some other day.) So when Lindsey Buckingham recorded those guitar solos, did he plan them carefully or just try whatever came to mind in the moment? Either way, I'm sure that there were a number of takes to get them to sound so inevitable. Or maybe not. Some of those tunes, the whole thing sounds inevitable: backup vocals, drums, Stevie Nicks' voice-that-doesn't-fit-with-her-face, the works. Once you've heard any good song (or aria, okay? Geez), it seems as though there could never have been any other way to do it. And this is what interests me (this is the part about playwrighting): how does a good pop song, a good painting ,a good anything, manage to be both surprising and inevitable at the same time? How do you create something with that inevitability that isn't predictable? My brother the very smart guy and excellent musician Lloyd Peterson says the other good thing about Lindsey Buckingham is how he leaves a lot of room for silence in those solos. That's good for plays too.

So I'm either going to sit in on rehearsals, clean the house, or learn to play the guitar.

If you don't like Fleetwood Mac, you could read Steve Martin's autobiography (Born Standing Up) which also told me lots of good stuff about playwrighting, even though it's about standup comedy.

Sunday, September 16 - Day Six

End of the first week and I think I would be feeling quite positive and optimistic right now if it wasn't for the fact that I AM SO TIRED I FEEL LIKE MY LEGS ARE GOING TO FALL OFF.

They managed to get through all of the blocking for Act One - looks great. And they would have got through Act Two except I kept interrupting them. The next to last scene, the "Penultimate Scene" as we call it, is giving me a headache so I thought I would spread the suffering around by asking them to read about eight versions of it. Well, three, but it felt like eight. As they blocked it, some things became apparent and they moved some stuff around, cut some things and it now has a viable shape. So we'll go with that. For now, anyway. Answers may continue to suggest themselves.

A day off (Monday) is a wonderful thing. Time now for a cold drink, a hot bath, a little time with my neglected family and a long sleep. Hope Bob and the cast and the SMs are doing likewise.