Shaker Bridge Theatre

One of the things that I am most often asked is: "How do you come up with the plays that you do here?" It's a great question, because this theatre does plays that are not often seen in this area. We specialize in contemporary theatre - plays and writers that are unfamiliar to most people in our audiences. Do I pick plays that I've seen that I like? In general, no. I have a personal rule (almost always adhered to) that I won't direct anything that I've seen a production of somewhere. I want what the actors and I create to be original. If I've already seen it and either liked or disliked it, I can't help but be influenced by that experience. So a lot of the act of creation is subverted by prejudice.

So where do these plays come from?

I read the arts and entertainment sections of a lot of publications, from New York to Chicago, from Minneapolis to San Francisco. Lists of plays being produced, reviews, interviews. I check on the websites of lots and lots of other theatres to see what their seasons look like. Occasionally I'll get emails from friends who have seen or have been involved in a play that they think I would like. Or I may read somewhere that a writer that I really like has a new play. From all of these sources, I try to find a manuscript of the play or order an acting edition. And then I read and read and read . . .

As an example, here is a list of the plays that I have read (or re-read) over the last couple of weeks (an asterisk means it could be a potential play to be done at this theatre):

Blackbird (David Harrower)*
La Bete (David Hirson)
Educating Rita (Willy Russel)*
A Devil Inside (David Lindsay Abaire)
Skyscraper (David Auburn)
Spinning Into Butter (Rebecca Gilman)*
Time Stands Still (Donald Margulies)*
Body Awareness (Annie Baker)
Aliens (Annie Baker)
Acts of Love (Kathryn Chetkovich)
The Shaker Chair (Adam Bock)*
Reasons To Be Pretty (Neil LaBute)*
The Shape of Things (Neil LaBute)
Dead Man's Cell Phone (Sarah Ruhl)*
Goldfish (John Kolvenbach)
Love Drunk (Romulus Linney)*
Three Days of Rain (Richard Greenberg)*
Life X 3 (Yasmina Reza)

Yeah, lots of reading. But it's a lot of fun. When I read a script, it's very much like watching a real performance. I can see and hear everything while I read. And when I read it again, everything is different. And when I look at the scripts I've read in the last couple of weeks, there are nine plays that go into the "possible" pile for next season. And tomorrow or Friday, the UPS guy will bring me another stack of plays to read.

- Bill