Show Blog: building a house

Director Amiel Gladstone gives us his thoughts on Three Seats in a Row by Katherine Swinwood, which is part of STEW, a mini-festival of one-act plays on at Studio 58. STEW opens later this month.

I’m sure I’m not the only one to use the analogy, but I really think of working on new plays as if we are building a house. The playwright’s in first, the architect, trying to make the foundation solid, where’s the best view, how is the house going to be used. Actors and directors come along, start walking around in the rooms, turning on the taps, sitting on toilets. Designers are bringing in swatches for drapes and paint treatments…
 
The challenge is that this can all happen at the same time. The whole thing can shift. The house can be moved on its site. The house can feel wrong. It’s all one big exploratory process, with no set rules. Those of us who have been through the process a few times can offer tips, ideas, responses to certain ideas, attempts at clarification, horror stories, and so on, but really, the writing of a new play can be a challenging elusive process. I love it.
 
It takes guts. Playwrights with a story and a need to tell that story. Actors who are willing to be vulnerable and working their best on what could be shaky, or shifting foundations. Designers who have to balance building what they can, knowing that things can always get cut, or requests may come in at the most ridiculous time.
 
All the while the playwright has to learn how to listen to the voice inside them, take the advice that works, and try and weed out all the other noise. Telling stories, what a powerful thing. Learning how to tell stories? You just have to keep building houses.