It's been a frustrating few months for everyone, and Hamish, Joe and I have been the same with the rewriting of Speed Dial, which has slowed down as we were allowed out of our homes, able to see friends and family again, and as we were called back to more regular work. That said, we do feel very close.
The main hang-up has been writing the final two scenes of the show. In the re-plotting of the play we've laced all these threads and clues and hints throughout every scene, but we're (obviously) apprehensive about whether we can stick the landing. The penultimate scene atop the clocktower was probably what we received the most feedback about at the Vaults, and was a scene we already knew had problems when we were heading into it, so now that we have different characters involved in different ways and a much more complicated balancing act in terms of plot and tone it feels like a real challenge. We've essentially tried to fit two key themes (that were present before but didn't work) into the scene by splitting them up and playing them off each other. When the show's out and we're done with it I'll write a bit more about what exactly it is that we've done, but we really are trying to have our cake and eat it. It feels like we've found a clever way to tie it all together, but I do worry that we've maybe bitten off a touch more than we can chew.
If we get it right I think audiences will find it funny, moving and tense (a bit like the whole play really), but if we stuff it up I think it'll feel frustrating and skittish. The first read-through - whenever that happens - will be mega revealing, especially as the play is now a fair bit longer, but for now I'm going to take another crack at these scenes.
留言