Newsletter – May 29, 2026
The first rehearsal usually begins with a “table read.” That’s exactly what it sounds like, the actors and director all sit around a table and read the script out loud for the first time.
In a full length production, the table read might also include an assistant director, the stage manager, and possibly a dramaturg, costume designer, or choreographer among others. But “Out of the Abyss” is a short play in a festival of short plays so it was just the three of us.
We also have limited access to rehearsal space so, for now, I’m making use of my membership in a co-working space where I can reserve meeting rooms to rehearse in. The meeting rooms all have one glass wall, but experienced actors are used to both accepting and ignoring distractions.
I gave some background to the inspiration of the play, which was Ray Bradbury’s “To the Chicago Abyss,” and the tone I was trying to achieve. They already intuited that tone and by the end of the read-through we were all in tears.
Keep in mind that the actors had never even met, but their instincts were spot on and they were entirely enrapt in the story. I told them as much while I tried to swallow back my emotions and I knew we were off to an exceptional start.
We moved the tables out of the way and began blocking the play. What side would Libby enter from? Did Sam absolutely have to sit on the floor? When she strikes him, how should that be staged?
Through discussion and following actor impulses we answered each of those questions and added a few additional moves that “just felt right.” Experienced actors and directors know that those feelings are always golden, and we followed them.
The actor playing Sam has bad knees that won’t allow him to sit on the floor and we agreed that a stage block—a two foot cube painted black—would be in keeping with the dystopian setting, especially if it was dented and battered.
We worked out all those blocking details about half a page at a time and then ran the play from beginning to end. Again—even with scripts in hand—we were choked up and the actors speculated that this will probably happen every time.
I hope so, because that means they’re “in the moment” and not playing at the emotions. Of course, I’d like to see the audience equally moved. I’m pretty sure they will be.
Opening night is four weeks from the day this newsletter is posted.
TTFN
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Eric Margerum 