Recent thoughts -
When we did the reading during the 2011 Assembly last year in June, we recorded the reading with video. I paid little or no attention to that process and so it was implemented by other filmmakers. The principle filmmaker ended up reading for us and also not paying too much attention to the filming. I would say that as a result of that, the footage we got was somewhat disjointed. This fact leads me to think that only clips of that reading will be useful, but it did serve the purpose of allowing me to see how a staged reading, without any blocking or business works for this show. Well, it doesn't.
This has led me to conclude that I am not interested in doing a staged reading of this piece. There are too many elements which work against such a presentation. There were individuals involved in the reading who were very much interested in seeing this presented and worked very hard to help that to happen. During this process much discussion took place about culling the play down to fit into the time-frame and the circumstances of the events of The World Assembly of The New Church.
As a result I cut a great deal out of the play, and all the material I cut out was the secondary sub-plot events which at the time seemed expendable. After reviewing the video footage, I have concluded that although this material may seem expendable, it is not.
These sub-plot elements were designed into the play for a very specific purpose and that purpose is to alleviate the intellectual tension brought on by the complex ideas presented in this play. There is admittedly an apparent didactic nature to the play as it reads, but it is a play and not a novel or a narrative. That means that the material presented on the page is designed as a guide for developing the characterization and the events of the play.
It was very clear to me that the actors in this play need to be fully committed to the characters, their lives and thinking and not their own aggrandizement. There are clearly moments where an uncommitted actor would be frustrated by not having the material spoon fed to them, but the potential for developing the sub-plot is there and needs to be drawn out. This is what I expected at the time when I was writing this.
I do know that I would like to expand upon some of the character's material, but I would like to do that in association with my actors. This expansion is not an expansion of material that adds to the time-line, but rather it is an expansion of material that enriches the character's presence on-stage. Some of the lines can be shifted around and I am certain that some can be eliminated, not by cutting them, but rather by using them to create actions by the characters that are not conveyed by using the words. This circumstance needs to be discovered in the production process.
There was some discussion about condensing the characters in the play, but the need to convey a social gathering dictates that we must have sufficient characters and a sequence of events that would take place at such a gathering to make that legitimate. Admittedly, the secondary characters need a greater presence, but it was my anticipation that this background presence would be developed as a not only as a backdrop to the principle characters delivering the more complex philosophical ideas, but also as another level of action which takes place around the core material. This backdrop is intended to build an atmosphere around this core which is equally important in shaping the sense of "period" and real human experience, not just the heady theoretical aspects conveyed in the philosophy. This is created in part by the costumes, the business and the sub-plot actions of these secondary characters that take place without the delivery of lines. This is why the actors need to be committed and to see that their characters are equally important even when they are not delivering lines.
Also, I do intend on producing this as a film, so any organization who wishes to produce this as a play on stage will participate in the film, if they like.
All this being said, I have determined that I do not want to produce any variation from the script as it is written. Once I see this fully performed as written, then I will consider changes, but not before.
If it is not performed as I have written it, it will never be performed while I am alive and that fine with me. I have other fish to fry. AG
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