ABSTRACT
Often there’s a legitimate and inevitable momentum towards performance. But how to judge readiness for an external audience? Many shows are begun and abandoned because the decision to mount a production is taken for the wrong reasons. It’s taken to paper over the cracks of a group in trouble or because it’s assumed you must perform to validate the exercise, or because the staff of the institution expect it. In any of these cases it may be better to stay within the workshop con fines because a production which fails, wrecking the confidence of the actors, is hard to justify. Sometimes it’s a difficult decision because a state of unreadiness in itself Is no reason not to perform. It’s par for the course in any theatre context. There’s no such thing as complete readi ness. A better question is: will the challenge of performance lift the group into a higher gear or will it put unhelpful stress on them? It’s a decision to be taken with reference to the group, the challenge, the available resources, time restrictions and the likely availability of a supportive audience.
