Oof!  Since I last wrote, I journeyed to the High Desert of New Mexico and worked for five weeks with the Best Theatre Troupe in Albuquerque: Duke City Repertory Theatre.  I directed Wooden Snowflakes, a beautiful holiday play by my good friend Cathy Bush.  A brief synopsis?  Sure, I'll oblige.  During a Kentucky ice storm, Eve, a cynical and world-weary woman, slides her car off the road and is forced to take refuge in the home of Simon, a man who believes fervently in God and Santa Claus.  Throughout the course of the play, new truths are illuminated for both of the characters and they discover the power of belief in one another.

My major goal for the production was to trust myself.  Trust that I had studied the play so thoroughly that I could follow my impulses and instincts throughout the rehearsal process.  In rehearsing other plays, I learned that I missed a lot of what was happening between characters because I was searching for the answers in my notes and in the script.  With this play, I experimented with an idea: what if the answers are within the rehearsal room, waiting to be unearthed by me and the actors?  What if I know the script so well that I can spend rehearsal time listening with my entire self?

It was a very successful experiment.  I felt confident when the play opened that it was in service to the audience - that the play was worthy of their attention because the pursuit of truth in every moment was central to every rehearsal and, consequently, every performance.  Leaving the play in the hands of the actors and the wonderful stage manager was not as jarring as it had been for past productions because we shared the challenges of the play together and found solutions as a group.