October 28, 2008

Snow was in the dark air when I went out moments ago to deal with the trash.

Anna Livia takes another hit in Chicago, a review as devastating–if not quite so curtly dismissive–as the first. Again, they are commenting on what is actually on the stage, so I can’t cry foul. It would have been nice if some visionary had seen through the production and recognized the play, but it’s difficult to know how that would happen without script in hand, or some production history to draw on. The Bailiwick adventure is very disappointing, but not, to my mind, actually a failure, and I’m glad it happened rather than not. Lesson learned: be less trusting with a director. Deny out of hand all requests to alter or cut the script without syllable by syllable oversight. When a production (of a decent script) fails it is almost always the fault of the director. A living playwright is very lucky if he finds a director in whom he can put full trust. Sidney came close with Edward. Kevin was working out his own stuff in Chicago, and Anna was left in the scrap bin.

But here I am talking about productions of my plays in New York and Chicago! However ifily they turned out, who would have though of it at all twenty years ago?