Read Through | Wayfarer

On Saturday afternoon the cast of Ham Buns and Potato Salad was officially cast by director Ann Wilkinson. Last night the cast met for the first time and read through the script. I’ve been asked frequently if I was going to act in the show and that discussion continued until the final moments of audition. In the end, I decided that I did not want to be in the show. As the playwright, I’d rather watch the rehearsal and production process. I know there are things that are going to need to revised and rewritten to make the script even stronger (several things came up at last night’s read through) and I’d like to pour my energy into that process.

Not being in the show also means I get to take photos of the process, which I like to do, as well.

I’m excited about the cast and crew. Auditions yielded a strong group of actors (especially women and girls) and Ann had several difficult choices to make. It’s always hard when you know there are good actors who would have done a nice job in this or that role. That’s part of the sometimes brutal realities of theatre. Choices have to be made and for every person you make happy by casting them, you make several people unhappy by not casting them. Wendy has been cast to play one of my favorite characters in the play. There are two newcomers to the USP stage and I love having a few newbies in the mix along with a capable group of local stage veterans.

Here we go.