It was a grueling but rewarding week. Opening was Wednesday June 11, but the official “press” opening was Thursday (confusing). Despite the heart-stopping technical snafus (the most nerve-wracking one being the death of the DVD player in the middle of Thursday’s show, rendering 2 out of 3 of Ikuko & Mark’s scenes sans subtitles and therefore non-intelligible to those who do not speak Japanese), the cast has made leaps and bounds towards making the show cohesive and fulfilling.

I was reminded of the Borges’ story The Circular Ruins in which a man attempts to create another man through the process of dreaming — but fails to breathe life into his creation. I felt that was an apt analogy for this process. No matter how intricately I dream the details of each moment in the play, it all falls as flat as a dead Frankenstein unless the actors can inhabit and play in the structure given them. But I am happy to find that they have been finding their path to the be beating play-heart, with great courage and passion.

For me it has also been helpful to embrace the fact that this and all plays will be imperfect, and that the imperfection is where the opportunity for surprise lies. I start seeing my own tendencies as a writer, and how I compensate for that as a director, as much as my resistance to the literal as a director keeps me running around as a writer. Self-deprecating or self-effacing impulses aside, I feel good about the show and good about the responses we’ve been getting. Looking forward to the next three weeks!

more great photos by Cark Skutsch: