First timer.

Hello,
This is Dan, and I've never blogged before.
It's invigorating and more than a little terrifying gearing up for this beast. I've just finished slugging through the first two weeks of rehearsal working around folks' schedules and trying to create something that makes sense. At present, I'm pretty happy with it. Had a great meeting yesterday with our costume designer Katherine Fritz and feel quite confident with the direction that is heading. I was in Ohio last weekend and spent a great deal of time just re-reading the play and trying to see how it looks and moves in the space. The images are becoming startlingly clear, but I don't want to get so firm in my ideas that I can't let folks surprise me in the room.
Katherine had never read the play before and I asked her for her initial reactions to the text. She remarked how unexpectedly fresh it is, and the unpredictable nature descending into pretty shocking violence in the later part. I agree that this is part of the appeal, but am also very keen to thread bits of that threat of violence earlier in the play. It has an amazing volatility, and I think we can embrace that without sliding into Grand Guignol or Melodrama. A great challenge. And the language is just so goddamn rich it's humbling.
So, that's what's going on in my head -
Dan