Worthwhile

      The play is at the printer to be duplicated and bound. I should be able to pick up the bound copies tomorrow after work. As always when the writing is finished on a project, I feel at loose ends. And a little depressed. The concentration necessary for a creative project is sort of like a drug. You miss the thrill when it's over.
      But I know the cure. It's time for another project. I'll start rehearsals next week on the play, and that will absorb me as actors attempt to recreate what I've seen and heard in my head. Perhaps you should pray for them. They're in for an interesting experience.
      I'm a fairly demanding director. Not that I expect them to make the play their whole life. It might be different if they were paid, but they're all volunteers. They have lives outside the theater, just as I do. I don't expect them to make it into their top priority, but I do expect them to move it up on their list. And they will do it. I've never had an actor who wanted to look foolish in front of an audience.
      I told Crystal that directing is basically learning what compromises you have to accept. That's somewhat true since the finished product isn't the shining creation you have in your head, but it's still a creation, not necessarily worse, just different. Learning how to accept that difference can be rewarding. More than once, an actor has shown me something new in my words, a truth different from the truth I wrote, but still valid. That makes directing a worthwhile experience.
      Tonight, I did nothing except watch TV. I don't do that often. I can't see me doing it alot. There isn't much worth watching on the airwaves. I have over 100 channels, but I found myself flipping around channels, trying to find something that was interesting and/or worthwhile. How do couch potatoes become couch potatoes? I don't think I could manage it.
      By the way, after I dropped the play off, I started thinking of the ending and who the murderer was. I realized that with just a bit of tweaking, I could have four different endings to the play with the murderer revealed as a different person or persons each time. I probably won't write those endings -- it's a little too much like the movie version of Clue -- but it's interesting to consider. And I might write them, just to see if one of them would fit the play better. It's project for another day.
      Speaking of another day, it's late, and I need to get to bed. I hope life is treating you well. Good night.