It just takes a little…

time |tīm| noun the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

This is a concept we battle to come to grips with. We complain of having too little of it, or too much. We hardly ever want to wait it out, and instead we sit and "tick tock" quietly in our heads, waiting for some kind of "alarm" to ring to signal something - a kettle clicks off, an email pings into an inbox, the doorbell rings, 5pm hits, whatever it may be...we're always ticking...and tocking.

Imagine a world without clocks. A place where time plays no part in our lives, other than the rising and falling of the sun. A day breaks, a night falls, but everything in between is timeless...relaxed...appreciated. Every moment lasts however long you want it to last because there is no impending end brought on by the singing of a cuckoo.

In theatre, we are constantly chased by the falling sand in the hour glass. Something which wouldn't be a problem if we had money to buy more time, because time comes at a heavy price. We'd love to have more time, but opening night looms, like a phantom in the dark, drawing nearer with every line spoken, and due to our monetary constraints we steam ahead at lighting pace. We touch on all the issues, we discuss every character flaw and every motivation, but we do all this while we're running. Running to meet the budget, head on (collision). And sometimes there are things we do not see because it's difficult to spot everything at a run.

This year is different though. This year we must remember to take our time. Time to "stop, collaborate and listen". Time to savour the moment, and to invest in the discovery of every inch of textual territory. Every wrinkle on every character should be explored. Every written word spoken should mean something, even if the meaning is meant to be meaningless - so be it. Take time to enjoy the piece, time to delve into the subtext. Time to tear apart, uproot, dismantle, deconstruct, eliminate - and then reassemble, rebuild, elevate and illuminate. This year is about remembering the basics, the glorious fundamentals of this exquisitely intricate craft we are slaves to. It's about giving ourselves the time explore the intricacies, just like we're meant to, but most importantly, to take the time to play. After all, we are makers of Play...

It's about the process...