Art had a successful closing, and now we’re gearing up for Hate Mail. We start Preview Performances next week, and I’m really looking forward to it.

The script is very funny, and the cast is doing a terrific job. I’m very interested to see how audiences respond to this unique style of storytelling – the format of having correspondence read back and forth is not a new one at all, but it’s not one you see done often. It is, however, a very fun, different experience. I think the end product of this process is going to be a really fun, funny, and uplifting production that leaves us not only laughing, but thinking about the relationships in our lives. It is, after all, a love story of sorts!

The big challenge for me right now is staging. This type of play is often done with folks simply sitting at a desk, reading letters back and forth. However, because we’re on a 3/4 Thrust stage, I have to move folks around for sightlines. Also, though, I think a little bit of staging can, if we’re true to the author’s intent, enhance the theatricality of the piece and the storytelling.

The trick, of course, is to find the line where we’ve got just enough movement, and it’s telling the right story. Too much, and it dilutes the power of the text and the style the play is written in. Too little, and audience members with poor sightlines will become frustrated and unhappy. Frustrated and unhappy is no way to watch a comedy! *laughing*

So far, I think we’re succeeding nicely. As I said, though, I am very excited for Previews, so we can get some audience feedback!