So I've now seen four performances (4 unique casts) of The Rubber Room and it's fascinating. Because each of the five companies involved rehearsed independently, under the direction of 5 separate people, naturally their rehearsal processes focused on different issues and they most likely worked in different ways. As I sit in the theatre watching, I've grown fond of playing a little game with myself. I see if before the 60-min. show is over, I can guess which actor on stage was directed by which director. And, you know what? My batting average ain't too shabby.
It makes me think that for students of directing, attending a couple of these would offer a unique opportunity to glimpse through a window into the impact of directorial biases. It's really fascinating. There's a blogger blogging about the show. He's actually attending all 20 performances, God love him. His name is Raphael Badagliacca and you can read his musings on the subject here.
