Why a residency, not a production?

Why work on a play without the immediate promise or catharsis of production?

Pat and I have been literally mailing plays to each other across the country for years, possibly since we met at Chautauqua, and then making time to talk about what we've read. What was or wasn't interesting and even how we might make them. When Pat sent me Lungs, I responded differently than I had to any play he'd sent me so far. Sure, it's excellent, but how would you do it? The time is condensed and the flow nonstop. There would be so much to discover in rehearsal.

Life changes all around us all the time without our noticing. If you speed time up do you see the change better or does it all look more the same? We have so much to learn this week. With Chautauqua's help, we can ask ourselves these questions with time to try many versions and find some that work for us. In production, you must find something that works before the audience shows up.

In this residency, we will have the space to play around to find something that works better.