Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work

Making an Ensemble

Let’s revisit the Streetcar rehearsal we described in Chapter

1. “We have play,” said the voice, mimicking the NASA con-

trollers who manage space missions. What exactly did the

group “have” that set this rehearsal apart from those preceding

it? It certainly wasn’t a perfect rehearsal. Actors had stumbled

and called for lines; they worked in a bare room without

scenery, lights, or sound; they had only bits of costume and

substitute props as they moved on a floor plan outlined in col-

ored tape. They weren’t done in any sense. There was much left

to do—a huge amount really—before opening night.

What they had was Ensemble, the penultimate ...