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Even if you attend theater regularly you do not often have the opportunity to experience what is about to happen in this theater tonight. Namely: the birth of a new play. The play you are about to see has never before been performed for an audience. That makes tonight very exciting.

Bringing a new play into being is an intensely complex and collaborative process. It requires the commitment, creativity, patience, selflessness and humility of the actors, designers, director and particularly the playwright. This collaboration is required because a new script does not come into the world fully formed and ready to be rehearsed.  The development process often goes something like this:

The playwright delivers a draft of the script to the director and discussions follow in which the director talks about what excited her in the script and what may have confused her. She talks about what drew her in and what held her out of being emotionally invested in the characters and their story.

The playwright may clarify his original intentions to the director and will likely choose to do some rewriting of the script. These rewrites can include small adjustments of words or phrases or the addition or removal of entire scenes or characters.

Eventually a draft of the script is given to the actors who read the script aloud and then begin to “put the show on its feet” under the guidance of the director.  Hearing the play “in the actor’s mouths” points up certain parts of the script that are powerful and others that do not communicate as effectively.  The actors will also have observations about their characters that contribute to the mix of ideas.

The playwright may continue to do rewrites on the script, sometimes on a daily basis. This part of the process is totally unique to the rehearsal of a new play. It means that the actors may have new pages of script every day as they come into rehearsal. Sometimes these new pages are color-coded in order to make it possible for everyone to keep track of the most recent edits.

Eventually, the director and the playwright choose a date when no more changes are made to the script. This allows the actors to get comfortable with the material without having to change their memorization of the text.

The show finishes its rehearsal process and finally the last element of the show is added: YOU…the audience. Now the production is ready to introduce the viewers to a new world filled with original characters who strive to get what they need from each other using our words, humor, persuasiveness, intellect and passion.

This is a snapshot of the process that has led to you sitting in this theater tonight, waiting to experience this exciting world premiere event. Now, enjoy being drawn into the world of Matt Benedict’s new play: A False Lie.  

Cue the Curtain!

Mark Abram-Copenhaver

Artistic Director