Thread by @LalaTellsAStory

Notes I always give on every single one of my plays in production:

- Go faster. Speak with urgency, pick up your cues, keep the energy driving until you hit the pause. Earn the pause. Crash into it. It makes the funny things funnier and the drama more gripping. Promise.

- If the play is a comedy, the characters think they are in a drama. (I.e. dont play the comedy, play the crisis. If you push comedy it dies.)

- If the play is a drama the humor is even more critical. It is the play’s humanity, it’s heart. Humor makes us lean in and connect.

- Scene transitions yall. Fast. Move. If the set takes too much time to move get a new set.

- Did I mention to go faster?

- You get 2 big juicy dramatic moments/speeches where you can take your time and feel the feels. But only 2 *in the whole play.* Earn them. Then go fast.

Every scene should have a revelation, an “oh shit!” moment, a *reason* to move to the next scene. It’s usually about 4/5ths of the way through the scene. The whole scene is about *that*. The pacing, tension, build and protagonist’s action all lead there... and to the next scene.

- Enter the scene with purpose, like you’re late for something. Talk with purpose, like you need something. Even glance at people with purpose, like they are keeping a secret.

- The character’s heartbeat is their subtext. Mean what you say, but know what you *can’t yet say*.

- What is the climactic, character defining action of the play? Earning that singular moment is what we’re here to do. A play is not about what happens, it’s about what those happenings reveal about the characters. We’re here to watch and understand how people prove themselves.

- You can do a lot of things onstage but YOU CANNOT BORE. If you are boring that’s on you. Its not the audience’s fault if they are bored, it’s yours. You know what can fix this? See above AND GO FASTER.

Look. I’ll tell you if you when/if you can slow down. It’s usually right before a moment of discovery or confession, or for laughs. But you gotta earn those moments by stoking the engine of the scene until then.

The big note, as you might have picked up, is pace.

Pacing is structural not aesthetic. If the rest of the scene clips along, the break of that pace will tell the audience that *this* moment is important, different, critical.

Audiences are smart. They can follow. Go go go!

Some follow up notes from 3 amazing playwrights!

A good clarification after lots of great discussion on the above points:

- Do your character work first. Know your character’s purpose, motivation, goal, fear, desire. Know your character’s role in the *whole* play. Know the big story. You can hold all that and push pace.

- Speaking with urgency and purpose is not just rushing . Urgency is emotional. Your characters *need* to speak. Let that push the pace.

Picking up cues is critical, vital, and technical. Energizing the performance is emotional.