Ready for a Punch in the Stomach?

In today's post, Director Bill Patton lays the groundwork for what undoubtedly will be an extraordinary run of Neil LaBute's This is How it Goes. The play opens tonight, Thursday, Oct. 29, and runs through Nov. 21. More information and tickets are available at the Firehouse Web site.
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Tennessee Williams once said that theatre is only worth doing if the audience feels like it’s been punched in the stomach and knocked down the stairs.

By that standard, Neil LaBute’s This is How it Goes is certainly theatre worth doing.

I’ll avoid revealing too much about the show’s content, as I’ve always believed it is up to the audience to decide what a particular play is about. However, I believe you will find that this play has a true honesty about it and that the characters speak to each other in ways that often are more truthful than we allow ourselves to be in our real-life relationships. This, in a sense, allows the truth of relationships to be revealed in ways we don’t usually think about or allow ourselves to admit.

That said, it is our job as cast and crew to present the material to the best of our ability, and we try very hard to do that without imposing our own interpretation of the playwright’s vision. Whenever I have asked the actors to do something or give me something, they’ve always given me more than I expected and more than I had asked for. It has been a splendid experience to work with everyone associated with this production, as well as to be directing again in the Firehouse and presenting quality theatre alongside its resident miracle worker, Carol Piersol.

I look forward to opening the show tonight, and hope you will join us this evening or anytime during the run. I am confident we will live up to Mr. Williams’ expectations.

Bill Patton
Director