ABSTRACT
Arriving at rehearsal with a blank slate, waiting for the director and company to inspire we with the creative process, means that we will start the race with all the other competitors already halfway around the track. Arrive at rehearsals with all sorts of ideas, opinions, and suggestions, so that we have material to feed us from the start. For a stage production, this is the time experienced actors introduce bits of business, even indicate moves, so that the director can be receiving some input at this early stage of rehearsals. A book of puzzles can be helpful if we have the sort of director who wants everyone in the room all the time, even if they are never used that day; he will often object to your reading in rehearsal but not to your doing a crossword or knitting a jumper.
