"Afterplay" opens

It’s 6:47 the morning of opening night for “Afterplay” and, of course, insomnia has the better of me. I’ve had about four hours sleep, which is actually good for me the night before opening.

This play has been a real learning experience for me. Each one seems to be, which is good, and each one is becoming special for its own reason.

“Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All To You” was only just over a year ago yet it seems a lifetime. That play was special for me because it was the first one that I really did alone, without my ex whispering instructions in my ear. It was very scary but very fulfilling. And it was the first of my collaboration with Chairman. It was the first time I really got a glimpse into the talent I knew he had.

The holiday one acts last year were fun, silly, and serious all at once. To do two such diverse one-acts together – “Christmas Card” where a man murders his totally dysfunctional family then poses their bodies for a Christmas card and “Christmas Miracle” where a woman dying of cancer struggles to put her family back together – gave me great satisfaction in that I think I handled the material of both rather well. Drama has always intimidated me because, as an actress, I could never get to the place I needed to be in dramatic performance. But working with such talented actors on both shows really let me relax and not even think about the difference in the two shows.

“Lloyd’s Prayer” will always be just a little more special than most, I think, for so many reasons. I really found myself as a director on “Lloyd’s” and stopped listening to the inner critic for the first time in a long time. I felt comfortable in my own skin as a director. It’s the show that really cemented for me that this is what I am meant to do with my life. It’s the show where I found several really amazing friends and cemented my long-standing friendship with Chairman. It showed me that I was worth something creatively and that was the best discovery of my life. I don’t think the cast and crew of that show will ever realize how profoundly it affected my life in so many ways. And being LA Weekly Pick of the Week didn’t hurt either. Now I get to be director of the critically acclaimed “Lloyd’s Prayer.’

And “Afterplay” takes its place with the others. This one has been challenging. Our rehearsal period was extremely short. Although it is a one act, it’s a very intimate, delicate one act that relies solely on the performances of the two actors seated at the table. I learned on this one that I still have a lot to learn – in a good way. Working with Paul Wagar was intimidating at first because he’s the artistic director and I was concerned that he was not going to let me do this my way. I was concerned that he was going to force me to follow his vision for the piece or just push me aside and basically direct it himself. Well, it did take us a couple of rehearsals to find our rhythm. And he was very gracious when I took him aside and talked to him about how I liked to work. He could not have been more respectful and understanding. And I learned so much from him these past few weeks, which makes me very glad we had this opportunity to work together. I saw a side to Paul that I didn’t know existed – a nurturing, encouraging side that I don’t think people see enough of sometimes. He made me realize that I am still a young director, figuring it out, but gave me the confidence that I am on the right track and that all I really need is a few more tools in my arsenal to take me to the next level.

The work on this show has been much different than the way I like to work, which has been an education in and of itself. Because of the intimacy, there needed to be so much work on the tiniest little detail such as the inflection of a single word in a line which can change the entire meaning of that line.

Chairman, as always, is instinct incarnate and brought so much to the table, literally, that it was very easy to take him one more step to the gentle performance he gives. That is the greatest pleasure of this show is seeing the side of this incredibly talented actor that I don’t think he gets a chance to show very often. He should be a leading man. And I hope to be able to continue this very special collaboration with him for years to come.

Kristy was a challenge in that she works very differently from most of the actors I’ve worked with recently and that’s what showed me where my learning curve is. She needed much more specific direction, moment to moment stuff that Paul talks about a lot lately. She is not as instinctive as I am used to so it was hard for me to find the right way to communicate and connect with her. I discovered there’s a whole language that I yet lack due to simply lack of experience. But with Paul’s example and encouragement, I think she and I got to a place where we communicated in somewhat of a Berlitz version of Paul’s moment to moment work. I’m sorry we didn’t have a longer rehearsal period so that she and I could have mined even more out of these lessons. But her performance is going to be a very beautiful, nuanced, elegant performance.

There have been other shows in between the Ark shows and they usually include Arkers, which is the beauty of working with this company. Those have been special as well but the ones within the Ark itself seem to be where I find the most special.

So now I’m going to go have some breakfast somewhere outdoors and peaceful – probably The Alcove – and maybe bring the laptop and see if something comes out of my head. Then finish up the myriad of errands to be run before auditions this afternoon. Then we open. I can’t wait.