'Chasing The Tiger' - Workshop Notes

Ana Reeder, J. Smith Cameron, Joel Leffert, Gail Sheehy, Victor Slezak, Kate King, John Shuman.

Photo by Barry Gordin, courtesy of Theaterlife.com

One of the incredible things about working in this business is the front row seat we get to witness the creative process unfold.

In theater, it's safe to say nothing truly begins without someone coming up with an idea and putting pen to paper or something down on the computer. The planting of that seed can start simply as an idea or point of view and in the rich landscape of the playwright's mind, gains shape and movement as characters emerge finding their way. And as the narrative develops a voice of its own, we are brought along on a journey that travels many paths before it finds its destination. When you get the chance to watch this process build 'in workshop' you see the trajectory that a play can take.

Thanks to the generous support of The Lucille Lortell Foundation we are able to be a part of that mercurial process when Gail Sheehy brought her 'Chasing The Tiger' workshop to our main stage last week. The ground-breaking author of Passages, Sheehy's first formal foray into playwriting tells the story of her career and home life while caring for her husband, noted magazine visionary Clay Felker (New York Magazine among others), during his battle with throat cancer.

The workshop is the first time the author can hear the voices out loud and the first time she sees real actors moving to it. It’s also the first time she gets input from a director - and in this case it was Tony award winning Jack Hofsiss (Elephant Man, 1981) who has done many productions here. They work with the lights and the sound and the actors and the language for four days all the while fine-tuning it. And then they put it up on Saturday night at 8 o’clock in what ever shape the piece is in. It's just amazing to watch.

That mean’s it can be literally the actors sitting working on the script. They may just be reading or at the point of moving around the stage, following lighting and cues, it really depends how much the script has progressed during the week. And the audience gets to watch this trajectory and has input in the development – by virtue of their response during the performance.

For example, in the last one we did, the playwright immediately saw his ending wasn’t working to the play and he saw that because it was the first time he heard the audience’s reaction. He saw where the real ending was and he tacked on another piece after it and it was the first time that became clear because it was read out loud and acted – so it’s an invaluable process for the playwright, director, actors and the audience.

A little theater magic in the making here @ Bay Street.

- Tracy Mitchell, executive director