Are you thinking about the movement before you write the show?

I think I can be, but it is never a golden rule. What has tended to happen before a word is written is a session where movement quality is explored but this has probably been the situation in recent years when I have been exploring the potential of an idea with non-theatre writers. The movement and physicality were explored to present the potential theatricality to the writer and wider team, with the aim of letting them know that all the pressure is not on them and that there are other valid and valuable languages to be used in presenting the production.

That approach goes back to the development of Stockholm where we saw the value of such an approach to a writer, but it does not have the same impact with every writer. Bryony Lavery is such an experienced and confident writer that she could absorb what was being presented and could understand what was impetus for text and what was the genesis of a physical scene (even before we did!). I think other writers have been overwhelmed with the amount of this information being thrown at them and have not known what to do with it. This is entirely natural.

The answer is probably a bit of yes and a bit of no. I can’t help thinking about the movement world of the play before it is written and as it is being developed but I also must respond to the provocation of the text. That could be a stage direction, but it could also be a silence or a new situation that presents itself because of what the writer has written. I must leave space for that moment of inspiration rather than have a list of physical sections I would like to crowbar into the production.