Reflection and Refraction

So a lot of my energy for the past week has been going to Steampunk Delusions, a double-bill produced by Hardcover Theater and English Scrimshaw Theatrical Novelties. Hardcover is one of those theatres that's been on my radar for a while -- its mission seemed uniquely compatible with MV's -- and Steve Schroer (the Artistic Director) and I once briefly discussed the possibility of working together (many years ago, and nothing ever came of it).

In any case, I was recommended for the lead in the Hardcover half: The Diamond Lens, a kind of poetic Victorian mad-science story that explores some of the questions that would ultimately lead to quantum theory. (The story's online for anyone who's interested, and it's well worth reading.) This is rare for me, but when I read the thing I immediately wanted the role, immediately thought I might be well-suited for it -- its dense, overwrought language is exactly the kind of thing I've been doing onstage for years, and as for the content -- I'm pretty sure I've *written* this story before: is has some more than superficial similarities to Quantum Suicide, and its protagonist, one Douglas Linley, has some more than superficial similarities to Richard (though, I would say, much more so in the original than in the adaptation).

This is also the first time in a long time that I've done detailed text work on a show that isn't -- well, that I didn't *write*. Steve, I think, is an excellent director, with that rare combination of clarity and efficiency; so working with him has been interesting for me, in that it's rare for me to be able to watch another writer's process with such intimacy.

See, the story poses some unique problems in adaptation, largely because it's told from the point of view of an emotionally reserved introvert. As the ponderous language is much of initially attracted me to the story, I would probably have made great effort to preserve it; whereas Steve's approach has been to take Linley's internal world and to *externalize* it, to find ways to make it animated and theatrical.

Both are, I think, valid methods. But I'm struck by the fact that he chose the one more immediately accessible to an audience, and the thought occurs to me, ruefully, that decisions like this are among the reasons that he still has a production company, and I don't.