In the first three articles of this series, we discussed how we began working with playwrights to find and develop the best practices and format for giving feedback and the process our initial efforts produced.

That process was:

• Starting feedback by asking participants what they found interesting

• Insisting the playwright do nothing more than listen to each participant’s list of Socratic questions.

• Asking the playwright whether they’d like to end the session with a list of questions to ponder, or solicit a discussion to get a deeper understanding of one of the questions asked.

Initially, the practice was successful. Playwrights reported finding the feedback useful, and a higher number of playwrights were able to effectively use the feedback to better their work. But, as playwrights moved from the tablework process of our workshops into rehearsals and production, they reported our practices didn’t prepare them for the kind of feedback they were receiving in rehearsals and production.

The feedback they received in workshops resembled the feedback they’d receive from dramaturges.

But it was often contradictory to the feedback they received from actors, directors, and designers. Contrary feedback often surfaced from different members of the cast and creative team. At times, conflicting notes sprang up at one meeting and then the next—even from the same person. Playwrights found themselves struggling to understand the intention of the feedback, to know which feedback to absorb and which to set aside, and how to translate the notes and suggestions into productive rewrites.

As we began exploring how the feedback process of our tablework workshops might better prepare playwrights for the kinds of feedback they were receiving during rehearsal and production, we discovered there were three main aspects of the rehearsal and production process that needed to be better understood.

1. Stages of the Process: The different stages of the new work development process.

2. Different Roles, Different Perspectives: The role and responsibilities of playwright, cast, and creative team members in the new play development process and how that affects the feedback they give playwrights.

3. Different Models, Different Responsibilities: The playwright and director weren’t on the same page as to which new work development model they were using and/or their intention of using that model.

Stages of the Process

In the actual process of developing a new work, the stages aren’t easy to delineate. But, generally speaking, the process is usually divided into three stages.

• The first stage: This stage consists of tablework and tends to focus on story or concept development, defining and executing a vision, and getting the piece to work well on the page. The feedback given in this context tends to revolve around helping a playwright develop this aspect of their work.

• The second stage: This stage consists of working with a director and actors in workshops and/or readings to explore how the piece works theatrically and move the piece from “the page to the stage.” Feedback at this point tends to revolve around developing the dramatic action—the dramatization of the themes, concepts and story, as well as the scene work. It’s about how to make it work on the stage.

• The third stage: This is the rehearsals and production stage. Ideally, rehearsals and production are about fine-tuning. Given the timeline of a rehearsal and production process, it’s difficult to address anything more.

But plays that haven’t yet clearly defined their themes, concepts and stories, or been explored theatrically for theater artists to understand how the piece works dramatically, can still be found in rehearsals and production. In these cases, playwrights often find themselves receiving feedback about the lack of clarity of theme, concepts and story, along with notes on the dramatization of the ideas and the scene work, and what needs to be fine-tuned simultaneously and without any delineation. Not only can the amount of information be overwhelming, it’s also tough to understand how the notes received apply to the different aspects of the work, which issue to address first, and what can be adequately addressed within the limited timeframe.

Different Roles, Different Perspectives

In rehearsals and production, each member of the cast and creative team has a very specific role and set of tasks to complete. Each of the actors has a character to embody and a role to bring to life, the designers have to conceptualize and construct an aspect of the play’s world, and the director needs to provide a cohesive vision and instruction that brings together every individual’s work into a compelling and coherent theatrical experience for the audience. When analyzing a script, each person is looking for the information they need to fulfill the obligation of their role in the production. When they ask questions or give notes, it tends to be from that perspective. To understand their notes, it’s helpful to consider their role and perspective.

For example, a playwright recently reached out to us in a panic because the set designer on their latest project had criticized their play during a production meeting by stating, “I don’t know who I am. There’s no information about what I’m like or what my relationship is to anything else in the play. I have no idea what to do.”

According to the playwright, when she tried to figure out which character the set designer was talking about, the other members of the production team just emphasized what the set designer had already said. “Him,” they told her emphatically. “There’s no information about who he is.” She was baffled.

Since the comment came from the set designer, our advice was that the note probably didn’t refer to a character at all, but the setting. Most likely, the set designer was trying to say the play didn’t communicate to him any sense of place; the purpose of the setting or the relationship between the setting, characters, story and themes.