One of the less visible aspects of preparing a stageplay is the number of times a director reads the script in advance.
Over the past several months of preparing for “Flung”, I have been reading. One for pleasure, two for critique, three for story, four for arcs. Five, six, seven, and eight for production dilemmas like lights, sound, costumes, and props. Nine for the lost gods, and ten for everything, everything, everything (thank you Violent Femmes).
Meanwhile I’m reminded of that nursery rhyme for counting magpies:
One for sorrow,
Michael Aislabie Denham, “PROVERBS AND POPULAR SAYING OF THE SEASONS”
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret,
Never to be told.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it’s the devil himself.
And suffice to say, I tried very, very hard to not read it that 13th time, but I’m not confident I succeeded.
I guess we’ll find out, starting tomorrow when our 2-3 day audition period commences, and the next phase of this adventure officially begins.
They do it all the time, yeah, yeah. T-t-t-t-t-t-time, time, time, time, time …
Muttering Retreats 