Playwrights in Rehearsal: The Seduction of Company (review)

Susan Letzler Cole's study of eight contemporary playwrights in rehearsal explores both commonalities and differences in their approaches to production. Cole's work is particularly interesting because it examines playwrights' work in preparation for developmental staged readings as well as fully staged productions. The diversity of production situations Cole observes produces a compelling survey of how individual playwrights with unique artistic voices assist in the translation of their work from page to stage.

Between 1997 and 1999, Cole observed rehearsals for plays by Elizabeth Egloff, Maria Irene Fornes, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Tony Kushner, Arthur Miller, Suzan-Lori Parks, David Rabe, and Sam Shepard. During these rehearsals, Cole also had the privilege of studying several top directors, such as Joseph Chaikin, David Esbjornson, and Mark Lamos, and accomplished actors like Kathleen Chalfant, Ellen McLaughlin, and Dennis O'Hare. In fact, it is difficult to read the book without feeling a bit envious of her opportunity to interact with these artists at work. In one case, she was even asked by Suzan-Lori Parks to step in for a missing actor during a rehearsal for a staged reading of In the Blood.

Cole structures her book in eight chapters, one for each playwright, chronicling negotiations between the authors and directors, actors, designers, and dramaturgs in careful detail. For instance, although Sam Shepard attended only a few early rehearsals of a revival of Curse of the Starving Class, his limited comments inspired a reconceptualization of the set by director and designer and significantly affected the actors' understanding of the play's cultural landscape. Shepard's decision to change the last line of the play for that production highlights the notion that "finished" scripts are still malleable and shaped by individual productions. Cole also describes how Elizabeth Egloff frequently attended rehearsals for the premiere of The Devils. The script was in a state of flux and Egloff's interaction with the director produced a cohesive text for production. Cole's text deftly captures the interactions between each production's participants, forging clear narratives of the development of both the script and its production. While reading, one can visualize her scribbling frantically and sense her straining to hear quiet conversations between Egloff and her director or, in the case of Arthur Miller in rehearsal for The American Clock, comments for a specific actor. Admirably, Cole also recounts a situation where Suzan-Lori Parks asked her to leave rehearsals for a production of In the Blood because she wanted to work without being observed.

Cole draws very few conclusions about what a playwright does or should do as part of the production process, and she never criticizes a playwright's collaborative methods. She does, however, ask the actors and directors involved in each production process questions such as: who is "in charge," the playwright or director? What is it like to have the author present or absent? Do you prefer having the author present or absent? How have the presences and absences of the author helped or hindered the creation of your work? The collaborators' responses form the substance of Cole's analysis. Although Cole avoids asserting her own opinions about playwrights and the collaborative process, she does seize opportunities to highlight discrepancies and parallels between the playwrights she observed. The discrepancies Cole notes generally reflect the level of engagement between playwright and company; the most frequent parallel lies within her observation that several of the playwrights think of playwrighting in very musical terms, such as composing or rehearsing a symphony.

The most intriguing chapters are those in which Cole witnesses the same playwright in rehearsals for multiple productions, such as Tony Kushner in rehearsal for staged readings of both It's an Undoing World and Terminating. Cole notes that each text makes different demands of Kushner and highlights some of his working habits. Cole's accounts of both the staged...