I'm as overwhelmed as I am excited, that's an interesting combination because I can't wait to keep working on The Shadow Space but at the same time I'm freaked out beyond all reason. Last night was a breaking point, the moment in rehearsals of almost any show where you're certain it'll never come together and you want to throw in the towel. There are SO many details and, admittedly, I'm used to doing solo shows so it's hard for me to trust-fall into the cast and crew. I have to remember that I put together incredibly capable people who will each carry the weight of this and make it great, but last night I wanted to leave the country and chalk this up to an experiment.
As a study it's been fascinating. How is it to have audience around you and any angle at any time and not acknowledge them? How much do we need to peripherally aware of them? How do we build a show that can be pulled in different directions at any point by the audience to the extent that we almost need to let go of structure BUT always remain conscious of the flow toward the outcome(s)?
We are not building a traditional script which is disconcerting, it's like we are having to color in pictures that don't exist yet. This show isn't just bringing together and escape room, murder mystery, play, and haunting, it's forcing us to combine disciplines: Improvisation, intimate realism, and morphing structure happening at once.
Traditionally the cast is in control of the show and we are giving over some of the reigns to the audience, letting off the strict manipulation of, say, a crowd going through a haunted house or an audience that is expected to sit and politely observe. However, we still have to create a current for the narrative.
I may go insane. I just hope that works as a possible outcome for the show.
