OHMYGOD.

This morning, we staged my play and it was other worldly. Honestly. It’s difficult to articulate the sensations I felt as Terri directed and Alison and Joan starred in “Ma.” This piece was excruciating for me to write. The more we work with it, the more comfortable I get with the material. 

The work came to life today. 

As Alison previously mentioned in her entry, “You’re an Actor, Harry,” this text truly was collaborative. I loved the workshop experience of exploring the words to discover meaning and of finding deeper character relationships and nuances. 

I have previous experience with the theatrical process as a production assistant and actor, but never as a playwright. I prefer this position. It allows me to trust the production team with my work. Trust their choices, exploration, judgements, and artistic visions. I hand it to them, observe, clarify, then return for the finished product. I like this. Being a PA//actor makes my feet hurt. There’s a lot of waiting in the space and a lot of time spent in the space doing things over and over again. That’s what turns me off to the rehearsal process. I understand its necessity, but I like being able to pursue other interests. The support surrounding my work means so much to me. Participating in the development of new theatre, creating new knowledge, is an unmatched concept.

“Ma” will premiere Wednesday, July 24th at the John Hewitt Summer School.

WHAAAAAT?!