The playwright listens to god

I'm writing this play, Nanda Devi, for and with eight actors. I still use my old Win95 computer for this, with the macros taped to the keys -- Stage Directions (blue), Dialog (yellow), Character Name (purple), Lyrics (green).

Writing is like dredging. Each line of dialog has to carry the whole weight of the play, and work at every level. I can't tell when I'm writing if it's any good. I can only tell if it's working.

But directing... directing, I know everything. And I know it fast.

The weird thing is, I can only do one at a time. I can either be IN the play, writing it. Or I can be OUTSIDE, directing it. The two sides of my brain pass each other letters, in the form of the script.

On the deeper level, I notice a new ease. There's no drama now, I just sit down and write. It's fine to write crappy scenes, I can improve them after the director takes a look. The ease comes because we all trust the director.

Leonid Anisimov says,

The playwright listens to god, and writes down what he hears. This takes all his attention. The director listens to the play, and translates to the actors. This takes all his attention. The actor listens to the character. The actor knows the character better than anyone -- better than the playwright, better than god. This takes all his attention. The audience listens to the play. They receive it and are purified by it. They give their dirtinesses to the actors, who take them out into Nature and give them back to god. This is the Great Circle of theatre.

At the Odin Teatret, the whole company listens to god. I think the Nanda Devi cast could be listening to god, if I would stop talking so much.