We had a talk-back after the show on Sunday. This is when some of the audience stays after the performance for a discussion of the play. The actors and director answer questions and talk about the rehearsal process. I found myself talking a lot more than usual. I am usually very quiet during these things. One of the questions that really struck me was from an audience member that felt we embellished the play to the point that we perhaps should have asked for special permission from the author. For some reason that question really stuck with me for a couple of days. I know for sure that we didn't do what he suggested but, nonetheless, I kept wondering what would have motivated a person to ask such a question. Maybe he was a playwright himself and is very sensitive about his own work being corrupted. Who knows?
God protect me from being involved with a theatrical production in which the audience or reviewers say, "They were faithful to the script." I'm a playwright myself, and I always tell my directors: if anything I've done gets in the way of the play, cut it or change it. A script is just a blueprint. The play's the thing.
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