The cast of Dua: The Monster’s Story performing a staged reading of the play at the Kennedy Center’s Local Theatre Festival in the REACH Justice Forum in September 2023. Photo credit: Amanda Zeitler.
Over the last year, we’ve had the joy of working with playwright Robin Berl to develop her play Dua: The Monster’s Story as part of our Pitch Your Passion project. But what does developing a play entail, exactly? How does it go from an idea in the playwright’s head to a fully produced play? Read on for a peek behind the curtain of our process on this show, and to learn where it’s headed next!
Part 1: the first reading
The first part of our process is designed to help the playwright hear and hone how the dialogue sounds aloud. We started this summer with informal readings, just Robin and members of the Prometheus team. We read and discussed the play in several rounds, usually around someone's dining room table or hanging out on a front porch, with Robin drafting and redrafting as the play evolved. Halfway through the summer, we moved into a more structured reading and rehearsal process. This involved rehearsals and (yet more!) rewrites, incorporating feedback from the directors, actors, and other Prometheus team members. The end result was our in-person reading at this year's Kennedy Center Local Theatre Festival. The reading was followed by a post-show conversation led by our Director of New Works Mari Fluegeman, where our fantastic audience was able to give us on-the-ground feedback on their experience of the play.
Part 2: the virtual reading
At this point, we invite designers into the collaboration! Traditionally, designers are only involved once a new play is finished, but we like to include designers earlier in the process. It gives the playwright the opportunity to experience not only how actors are interpreting their words, but also how designers are interpreting the world they are building. We've assembled a full team of designers who, under the guidance of Director Ileana Blustein, are building out a version of the world of the play. This is an opportunity for designers to let their imaginations run wild, as they do not have to consider logistics or feasibility, just what the words on the page are telling them about the world of the play.
Concurrently, our directing and dramaturgy teams are working with a brilliant team of actors, (returning from the Kennedy Center reading) to prepare for the final step in the play's formal development process: a virtual reading. Because virtual readings allow audiences to see the actors' full faces without scripts in the way, we believe they are actually more effective at conveying how a script will feel when fully produced than traditional in-person readings! This virtual reading will also include a presentation by the designers of their vision for the world of the play, using Pinterest boards, renderings, and other visual aids to communicate that vision to the playwright and audiences. Join us on November 18th to experience this step of the process, and have your voice heard as part of the post-show conversation!
Part 3: final rewrites and production
Finally, Robin will take all the information she's gleaned from the first two parts of the process to make any adjustments or edits she feels are needed to the script. At this point, the script is finalized, and Robin will trade out her playwright’s hat for a director’s hat to stage Dua’s full world premiere production with us this spring (details coming soon!) .
On November 18th, Theatre Prometheus presents a FREE digital reading of Dua: The Monster’s Story by Robin Berl. This is the last stop before our production next year, so be sure to reserve a spot and join us for this exclusive look!
Please note that to give each project the attention it deserves, we are not currently accepting new plays for development.