1-17-2009 Table Reading

Last night we had a table reading of The Devil’s Own Game in preparation for the New Voices @ New Rep staged reading on February 9th. This play was one of my main projects last season when New Rep hosted me in a National New Play Network Emerging Playwright Residency.

I had a round table reading of an earlier version of it at an NNPN event hosted by the Lark Play Development Center in NYC last March as part of that same residency. That event did quite a bit to develop my conception of the play.

The play itself sort of takes up where most versions of the Faust story leave off. With Faust in hell. And wanting out. What this play is really about is the promise of the present moment and the nature of knowledge. It also explores themes of jealousy and loyalty, corruption, and hope. Much of my theatre life is movement oriented, so I like to think of myself as a very physical writer. I feel that this comes across well in this script.

The table reading was facilitated by Bridget O’Leary, New Rep’s artistic associate, who also read one of the roles that evening. Meg Taintor, who will be directing the reading, was there, as well as two thirds of the cast I’ll have on the day itself, Zillah Glory and Jennifer O’Connor. I’m really excited about my cast. Both actresses gave strong readings and were really great casting choices.

The purpose of a table reading is to help the playwright see what rewrites and adjustments need to be made. I learned a lot about what I want to do with my script before my New Voices reading, both from hearing the play and from the feedback I got from the people in the room.

I look forward to having an audience for this in a couple weeks and learning more!