Show Blog: in the delivery room

It is Tuesday morning and I am very tired from a tech rehearsal I had till 11:30 pm last night.

The rehearsal was for a brand new play called Milmish by Rachel Aberle. I am directing Milmish as part of  STEW, new plays by emerging writers, at Studio 58 running Jan. 27-Feb. 7. I woke up feeling exhausted, drained, and spent. I felt like I had gone through something monumental or epic in nature…like I had just witnessed the birth of a child.

When I got to contemplating my exhaustion and what exactly my problem was (if I am just getting older and can’t handle these grueling hours anymore - my passion and enthusiasm for late night theatre-making dwindled by the idea of spending cozy night times on the couch with my cat) I began to realize that I did witness a ‘birth’ of sorts last night. The birth of a new piece of theatre.

Over the past three weeks the playwright, actors, designers, and faculty at Studio 58 have sculpted and honed this brand new play into an exciting piece of theatre. It has become our ‘baby’, our prized possession that we are all hoping will flourish in it’s development, firstly in the infant stage of dramaturgy, then into toddler time of getting on its feet in rehearsals, the teenage years of beginning to find it’s own voice in final runs, and then off to college in having it’s own life on opening.

So like a proud parent I am recovering from the ‘delivery’ last night. I hope we have given it all the support it needs.