Saturday, January 16, 2010

The Hush....then the Buzz...

After the play draw this always happens:

Newly matched directors and playwrights meet and say "Nice work last night." then they decide will they read the play together or separately.  then the room gets quiet.  Like Taking-the-SAT quiet.  That lasts about 3 minutes.  Then the questions start.

"So I'm thinking..."  or  "Should this be played straight or funny?"  or "are the characters in on the joke or do they really think this is happening?"

And the buzz starts.  The exchange of ideas.  People start talking with their hands and lean forward to each other.  Directors look for something to write on, some already have paper ready to go.  Sketching occurs.  People start to laugh and agree with each other.  Gasps of shared discovery.  And finally the first "OOOH, YEAH!  Yes, yes YES!  That'll be great!"

And they're off.

The actors come in bleary-eyed and then sense the buzz.  It's just for the Directors and Playwrights now, the chit chat between the actors and band about last night stays quiet out of respect for the Buzz. 

The Design team stays hunched over their scripts the entire time.





Now the room is full and Peter Dylan O'Connor whistles and the draw happens.

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