Forbidden Phoenix Play - Rehearsal Day 2
Interesting end to yesterday's rehearsal. I gained insight into how a director works. My director (Ron) was very much into the details of the scene, to the point where he neglected the ripple effect of changes throughout a script. He argued to change the motivation for Sun Wukong to go to the west, wanting Sun Wukong to be banished, instead of Sun Wukong offering to be a spy in the west. While this might have made it simpler for the actor to play, it would have taken all the drama/conflict away when Sun Wukong returned to Jung Gwo later in the play. I had to remind Ron of this. Our discussion was heated at times, but I put my foot down and said I would not rewrite a scene to change intention, but I was happy to cut lines. I chopped away a page from the scene in order to clarify the mission. We had to cut the script down anyway to make sure the play ran under 90 minutes (to accommodate school matinees), so I was okay with cutting. I was not okay with doing a full scale rewrite on a scene for the sake of my director, and I said so. He backed off.
At a certain point, a playwright has to be able to stand up for his work, and draw a line in the sand. I drew my line yesterday. If I'm wrong, I'm happy to be wrong, but I can't change a scene based on someone's knee jerk reaction to an exposition heavy scene. Sometimes, you have to dig under what's said to find what the real problem is. It reminds me that in the heat of the moment, hasty decisions are what kill scripts. I made sure that the cuts were done to preserve the story and motivation rather than to undermine the foundation of the script. Phew! Dodged a bullet on that one.
Anyway, I'm visiting schools today, and will drop in to rehearsal at the end of the day to see where everyone is at.