Day 254: Monday progress report - 2nd draft

(Exciting news: my play shower is now a featured project on indiegogo.com's home page!  Visit www.indiegogo.com and you'll see it there.  If you don't see it at first, just hit refresh once or twice and it will appear.  This is very exciting because it means that thousands of strangers will see my project!  Thank you to everyone who made a contribution, wrote a comment, made a testimonial, or referred it to a friend -- all of that activity is what inspired them to feature it!)

Last week I had a table reading of the second draft of the play, with my director Steven Yuhasz present.  It was a chance for him to hear the play out loud for the first time, and for me to hear if the rewrites held together and accomplished what I wanted.  I also invited a couple of people who had never heard it before, as I have found in the past that asking for feedback on rewrites from people who heard the original version isn't always productive.  (Having heard the story before, it is hard to assess whether their impression is left over from the first time they heard it or if it is truly what they heard in the new version.)

The feedback was tremendous.  The two guests, as well as my boyfriend, were crying at the end.  One of them said "that was so satisfying".  The actors loved the script and felt the rewrites made it much tighter and set up the story better.   Several of them mentioned how much I had rewritten, how much work I did -- but to me, hearing it, it didn't feel that way.  Don't get me wrong, it was a lot of work and it wasn't easy, but it just sounds like that was the way it was always supposed to be.  I imagine that by the time I get to the final version, whatever that looks like, it will feel that way as well.  I've used this analogy before - it's like the sculptor who says they aren't creating the statue, they are merely revealing the statue that already exists in the marble.  I feel like this play, this story, already exists and I'm discovering, or uncovering, it. 

This week my director and I will be making some important decisions about November's reading.  I'm very excited about the prospects, and will keep you all posted!