Replying to Annie

You're right that it would be silly to stage a 'jumble of scenes'. You don't want to confuse the audience for the sake of it.

But please bear in mind that it's a 20-minute performance (maximum) and any audience - particularly a group of highly intelligent drama students - can concentrate even on quite abstract material for that length of time. A plot might, in fact, seem fussy; remember that the Suspect Culture shows you have read may have narratives (though Lament and Airport certainly don't have single overarching narratives), but they aren't nearly as linear as you describe. Timeless isn't 'linear', nor is Mainstream. Some of the other shows are more so (8000m, for example), others less so (One Two, for example). I'm unsure whether you are really talking about Suspect Culture's work or your own preferences for a theatre of character and story. Suspect Culture's shows are more fragmented and conceptual; you need to take that on board.

The scenes I'm passing to you are deliberately open so that you can decide on character and situation. You shouldn't assume that they are meant to be characterless or placeless. You can create continuities by being careful about deciding which performers play which parts. I'm hoping you may find continuities between them. The things you suggest (repeated lines, etc.) are actually already there.

But as to your first point - that you should have input into them - (a) you already have had enormous input into them, and (b) I've asked you to comment on this blog, so thanks Annie and Sam for doing so. I await comments and ideas from the rest of you.

Dan Rebellato