To Begin

"A city is gripped by terror when a plague threatens to destroy the entire population. Hilarity ensues. Come watch your favorite IBP company members drop dead multiple times."

This is the description that Tony gave me of the play he has chosen to direct next for IBP: Killing Game, by Eugene Ionesco. While Ionesco is a very popular playwright, this play just isn't performed all that often. Maybe it's because of all the death. Because that's what this play is about - corpse after corpse after corpse after corpse, and how the townspeople deal with their fear and the corpses, until they become corpses themselves. Not "fun for all ages", some might say. And opening it in February, when many theaters choose to throw up love stories? Well, that is an interesting choice. And a hysterical one. And a challenging one.

Ionesco makes it plain in his stage directions for Killing Game that he wants producers to make the play their own. The play could have a cast of five or a cast of twenty. It could be performed with a mix of humans, puppets, and painted figures, or could be all live actors. Tony intends to take a very liberal approach in style to the script, one that involves a great deal of sound, physical comedy, choreography and technical elements. He also plans to rely heavily upon creative inspiration from the cast, and this will truly be an ensemble-driven piece.

As a company, we at IBP have been interested in communicating more about our process to the audience, and that's what we're going to try to do with this blog. We'll post dramaturgical information as we dig it up, similar to the zine that Cathy Power created for Hide Town. Hopefully, as we get further into the rehearsal and performance process, a few of the actors will feel comfortable posting about their experiences, much like Cary Winscott did during Speeding Motorcycle.

Creating a production blog while we're creating a play is new for us, so we welcome any comments you have. Onwards and upwards.