The entire focus in the pre-production has been on episode one, and as a result, my focus has been entirely on directing. In the pre-production stage, I sometimes feel as if I am sitting on my hands a bit: everyone else is doing work and unless I over-step my responsibilities, I don’t have a whole lot to do prior to studio rehearsals and tech runs of the show. As the creator of the idea and the person who has to direct it, I did try and suggest a few things to the writers and have sat in on a few of their meetings, but ultimately I am trying to trust the process and allow them to do their roles to the fullest. This is, however, eating me up on the inside; giving away your idea, it being moulded into something else, then given back to you to direct, is a weird sensation. Perhaps I should have asked Ruth to see where I should stick my head in and where not to, but to be frank, I don’t think many people are considering the director’s opinion on things anyway unless I reminded them that I probably needed to know. I think the collaboration between others is great and I think it’s worth allowing people to explore their roles to the fullest extent, but the exchange of ideas is a bit haphazard and in my view misses some steps or people (not just myself, for that matter). I’m also aware that my hands are likely to be very full when it comes to the studio days, so I am not trying to overload either.

Other then that, I planned a “look” for the show about a stage within a stage, which allows for the two episodes to have a consistent aesthetic while we are constantly changing sets, and helped Jacob plan out how the run-sheet is likely to look, trying to balance the logistical elements of the show versus the core parts of it that make it engaging.