9. Smith
Summary: A man wakes up to discover 6 other men around him, all claiming to be later incarnations of himself- but he has visions of a reality he is desperate to escape to, if he can survive his later incarnations
Best Bit: When everything turns nasty and the Smiths realise their existence is threatened- they start bring up past memories that drive Smith 1 insane http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4THBd7HiJxs
What I Learned: Following on from my H3O efforts, I decided this years play, my final, was going to be personal, intimate, and scaled-back. Based on a surge of interest I had been having in surreal, existential drama from the likes of Samuel Beckett and, er, Inception (OK, thats very different to Beckett) I punched out the script for Smith in a day, though the idea had been mulling around since La Famiglia had premiered. This was not met with the response I expected from the cast of La Famiglia, who had worked with me before and knew my efforts. But, because they trusted me, they hopped on board. In my opinion, it is actually the best-acted of my trilogy of plays. Because the stage directions were simple an there were no props, my cast of 7 including me could focus purely on performance, carving out little tics and niches and making everyone unique, memorable and distinctive. Everyone collaborated on their costumes, their accents- the wheelchair, the cue cards, the facial expressions- this was my most rewarding and enjoyable experience as a theatre director and has yet to be topped. Sadly, this was not awarded or given any recognition. People thought it was too different- it was met with a bit of a muted reaction, although they laughed at all the absurd an twisted humour like I had hoped. But a good friend of mine told me afterwards he thought it was too mature for such an audience. And that brought a smile to my face. I didnt care that it was as universally beloved as La Famiglia, because it went perfectly and nothing compromised my vision.