Our final day of table work ends with a runthrough. Fittingly, since everyone is itching to get on their feet, the director gives the actors homework: to come up with three iconographic tableaus or statues for your character. If you were to encapsulate the essence of your character in a statue, what would that look like? One can be abstract if you want. Start with no props. Using a chair is OK.

I talk with her about the exercises she’s been using in the costume fittings, and she tells me she almost always tries them – sometimes casts take to them, sometimes not, but this group is getting a lot out of it.

We also discuss scheduling. Our next step is to stage the entire play in four days – a rough sketch, to feel its momentum.