Steppenwolf Theatre Company Blog – Chicago Theater, World-Class Ensemble

Our First Look Rep began public performances this weekend, including a marathon day on Sunday in which all three plays were presented successively. At the same time, in Minneapolis, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas was holding its annual conference. Steppenwolf Trustee and First Look Council Chair Beth Davis presented on a panel there, addressing relationships between Trustees and the artistic process of theaters. In preparation, Beth asked if I had any thoughts about First Look her audience might find useful. I’ve observed it is most difficult to describe, even to fellow practitioners, the way First Look differs from simply rehearsing and producing a new play, so I did my best to supply Beth with a concrete example:

Spare Change was scheduled for its tech day on Tuesday. In response to some notes following a run-through of the show on the Saturday before tech, the creative team cut two entire scenes from the play. On Sunday, the play was run without those two scenes. Having watched that run, playwright Mia McCullough decided to add a new section to the beginning of a scene that follows one that had been cut. In so doing, she added an entirely new character. Fortunately, this would be played by an actor already playing multiple roles, so we did not need to hire a new actor, although we would have, if necessary. Mia made these changes on Monday, the day off for actors. On Tuesday, we teched the play, but skipped the transition into, and pages of, the new material. At the end of the tech day, the actors read the new pages for the first time. The next day (Wednesday), back in the rehearsal room (another play in the Rep was teching in the theater) director Lisa Portes staged the new pages, the costumer fit the new costume, and then we teched in the new section on Friday, prior to the first public performance that night.

While such goings-on happen at times with any new play, wholesale changes and this degree of fluidity so late in the process is unusual. Providing an environment in which this kind of experimentation can be supported is precisely the purpose of First Look.

This entry was posted by Edward Sobel on Wednesday, July 26th, 2006 at 8:56 am and is filed under First Look Rep (06). You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.