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PROMPTBOOK ASSIGNMENT 

2B OR NOT2B? 

BY: JACQUELYN REINGOLD 

DIRECTED BY: ALEXANDRIA HUNTER  

   
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Table of Contents 

1. Dramaturg Research ……………………………………………………………………………………………………... pg. 3  

2. Character Analysis ……………………………………………………….………………………………………………... pg. 9  

3. Script Analysis – Core Actions, Units, Beats ………………….……………………………………………… pg. 12 

a. Blocking ………………….………………………………………………………………………..……………… pg. 17 

b. Final Ground Plan ………………….………………………………………………………………………… pg. 22 

4. Administrative Materials …………………...…………………….……………………………………..…………... pg. 19 

5. Rehearsal Journals ………………...…………………….………………………………………………..…………... pg. 24 

a. Auditions + Casting …………………...…………………….……………………………………………... pg. 25 

b. Final Journal Entry …………………...…………………….……………………………………………... pg. 32   

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Dramaturg Research 

   
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Playwright: J​ acquelyn Reingold 

Plays, Productions and Publications:  

1. Co-Executive Producer for THE GOOD FIGHT created by Robert & Michelle King, on CBS All 
Access 
2. She wrote for Netflix's GRACE AND FRANKIE, starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin 
3. HBO's Peabody Award winning IN TREATMENT, writing the "Mia" episodes for Emmy 
nominated Hope Davis and Gabriel Byrne 
4. TOUCH ME SOMEWHERE ELSE, a new full-length 
5. THEY FLOAT UP, performed 2019 in Dublin, Ireland 
6. I KNOW in Ensemble Studio Theatre's O
​ ne-act Marathon  
7. UP AND DOWN for Christine Jones' ​Theatre for One.  
8. STRING FEVER at ​Ensemble Studio Theatre​, starring Cynthia Nixon and Evan Handler 
9. Produced at Playhouse West in California and in Washington DC at ​Theatre J 
10. She wrote an episode of the serialized play, CEDAR CITY FALLS, created and produced by Liz 
Tuccillo 
11. One-acts THEY FLOAT UP, and A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY were produced at ​Ensemble Studio 
Theatre.  
12. One-act 2B (OR NOT 2B) was produced at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2009 
13. Her full length play, A STORY ABOUT A GIRL was part of the JAW Playwrights Festival at 
Portland Center Stage, Oregon, and was workshopped at The Williamstown Theatre Festival 
in 2013 
14. GIRL GONE, 2B (OR NOT 2B), ACAPULCO, FOR-EVERETT, DEAR KENNETH BLAKE, DOTTIE AND 
RICHIE, TUNNEL OF LOVE, JILEY & LEDNERG, JOE AND STEW'S THEATRE, LOST AND FOUND, 
A.M.L., and FREEZE TAG have been produced or workshopped in New York at the MCC 
Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Naked Angels, HB Playwrights Theatre, the Drama League 
at HERE, All Seasons Theatre, Atlantic Theatre, and the Working Theatre; in Los Angeles; at 
theatres across the country; in London, Berlin, Belgrade, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong 
Kong. 
15. Published in two "Women Playwrights: The Best Plays," several "Best American Short Plays," 
"Best Monologues," "Shorter, Faster, Funnier," "Laugh Lines: Short Comic Plays," "The 
Quarterly," "O, The Oprah Magazine," and by ​Dramatists Play Service​, ​Samuel French​, and 
Smith and Kraus​.  
16. A collection of her one-act plays THINGS BETWEEN US is published by D
​ ramatists Play 
Service​. 
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17. CBS' BRAINDEAD 

18. NBC's SMASH (Executive Producer, Theresa Rebeck) 
19. NBC's LAW AND ORDER: CI, and MTV's DARIA.  
20. One-act plays: 2B (OR NOT 2B), A VERY VERY SHORT PLAY, I KNOW, and DEAR KENNETH 
BLAKE have been recorded for public radio/podcast for ​Playing On Air​. 

Awards 

1. New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) playwriting grant 

2. Commissions from Ensemble Studio Theatre/Sloan Foundation 
3. New Dramatists' Joe Callaway Award and Whitfield Cook Award 
4. The Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays' Roger Stevens Award 
5. Two Drama-Logue Awards, and the Greenwall Foundation's Oscar Ruebhausen Commission 
6. Finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, the Heideman Award, the Denver Center 
Theatre's Francesca Primus Prize 
7. Received an Honorable Mention for the Jane Chambers Award 
8. Received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Hermitage Arts Foundation, the Ucross 
Foundation, and the Edward Albee Foundation.  
9. An alum of N
​ ew Dramatists​, and a current member of E
​ nsemble Studio Theatre​. 

Biography  

Born March 13, 1959 in New York City, New York. “Jacquelyn has a BA in Theatre from 
Oberlin College and a MFA in Playwrighting from Ohio University. Jacquelyn has taught writing at 
New York University, Columbia University, Ohio University, Fordham University, Goddard College, 
the Stonybrook-Southampton Writers Conference, and Oberlin College. She has written and directed 
many plays with the Hell's Kitchen kids of T
​ he 52nd Street Project​. She has a BA in Theatre from 
Oberlin College and a MFA in Playwriting from ​Ohio University​.” 

- https://www.jacquelynreingold.com/ 
- https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0718060/   
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1. Where are they? 

a. In what country, city, place, building, room, etc.? 
i. Franny’s studio apartment in Upper Manhattan (New York, USA) (pg. 40). 
ii. 344 West 188 (2B) Street New York City, New York  
iii. “344 Wes t188 Street?” (pg. 42) 
b. How do the characters describe the place they are in? 
i. There’s a garden in the back. 
1. “Or or in the back, there’s a garden. With uh plants.” (pg. 41) 
ii. Located in Inwood 
1. “A studio in Inwood?” (pg. 45) 
iii. “It’s near the subway.” (pg. 45) 
c. Is there any special significance to the place they are in? 
i. No.  
2. When are they? 
a. In what day, month, year, century, season, time of day? 
i. “Now” (pg. 40) which would be October 2019. 
3. Do the characters have anything specific to say about when they are? 
a. No 
4. Is there any special significance to when they are? For instance, a holiday, an 
anniversary? 
a. No, but Franny’s ex-boyfriend is marrying her friend Eleanor sometime in the future.  
i. “You’re still seeing my friend Eleanor? You’ve asked her to marry you?!” (pg. 
47) 
5. What happened before the play/scene began? (Limit your information to facts given in 
the dialogue but be sure to read carefully. Much of what you discover will come from 
casual clues, which can occur in a variety of contexts.) 
a. Franny’s boyfriend Frank broke up with her and started dating her friend Eleanor.  
i. “I know you told me it was over and I respect that I mean I understand it and 
I know you don’t want to see me again...” (pg. 41) 
ii. “I heard you asked out my friend Eleanor, and I thought you’d like to know 
she has the papilloma virus – in her vagina.” (pg. 41) 
b. Franny is now a receptionist but she used to be a painter.  
i. “I’m a receptionist. It’s a career change. I used to be a painer. Very cutting 
edge. I didn’t even use paint, I used body fluids, but um it didn’t work out.” 
(pg. 43) 
c. Franny has had several failed romantic relationships. 
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d. She was married at one point.  

e. She was pregnant and lost the child.  
i. “Well my first relationships were with typical self-involved commitment 
phobes when I was between the ages of say, five and twelve. Then junior 
high was alcoholics, high school was drug addicts, college: gay men a guy 
who owned a duck, then a physically challeneged interpretive ice skater, 
meaning, you know, an amputee who’d skate wiht a kind of sttick wih a blade 
a he bottom, then I married a guy who liked to put garlic in his ears, but I 
went awat a lot witth my boyfriend who was a puppeteer for the blind, hen 
my husband fell for a woman wiht short limbs, and I got pregnant but lost 
the baby and the father, well, he was a midwesterner, so, then I had a slew of 
internet dates with incredibly boring men which is I guess a sign of getting 
older...” (pg. 43) 
f. This particularly colony of bees where Dave is from has been watching Franny.  
i. “We’ve watched you. We’ve chosen you. We know you.” (pg. 44) 
6. What is the function of each character in the play? 
a. Principal characters (protagonist, antagonist) 
i. Protagonist: Franny 
1. Franny’s function is to display her frustration with her breakup and 
they way her life is going.  
ii. Protagonist: Dave the Bee 
1. Dave the Bee’s function is to show Franny that she can live a different 
kind of life that will show her happiness in ways she’s been searching 
for.  
a. “We find a very special human female and offer her a better 
life.” (pg. 44) 
b. “Franny, imagine yourself. As a Queen. You’d never be alone 
again on a Friday night. You’d be serving the greater good by 
helping to cross-pollinate. Not to mention, we will please you 
in every way. Have you ever thought about being with more 
than one male and heir only pleasure is your pleasure?” (pg. 
44) 
b. Secondary characters? What kinds of dialogue (casual, formal, rough, educated, 
slang?) do they speak that give insight into their characters or about other characters 
in the play. 
i. Antagonist: Frank  
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1. Frank is only referred to in the third person. It seems like Frank was 
controlling of Franny and constantly brought down her self-esteem.  
a. “I’m waxing my legs. I know you hated my hairy legs, so I’m 
waxing!” (pg. 41) 
7. The Structure of the play - Is the play narrative (follows a linear cause and effect type 
of action)? Episodic? Cyclical? Non-linear? Does the play fit within a certain style or 
genre? (contemporary realism, absurdist, post-modern) If so, what? And why do you 
think so? 
a. This play is narrative. Beginning with Franny leaving a voicemail for her ex-boyfriend, 
then being approached by Dave the Bee, who then convinces her to join his hive and 
become their Queen.  
b. This genre is definitely absurdist. On the first page there is the stage direction, “​(A 
human-sized bee appears)​” (pg. 41). This is altogether impossible, not to mention that 
this bee starts to speak to Franny, and at the end of the play he gives her stripes and 
they fly away, “​(The bee puts yellow stripes on her)​” (pg. 46).  
8. Themes - What are the central themes of the play? Consider the title, the actions, and 
the implied values (i.e. those issues that are being raised overtly or subliminally? 
Subversively?). What concepts, beliefs, laws, morals or ideas are upheld or challenged 
by the action of the play? WARNING: ALL PLAYS HAVE SOME SET OF VALUES RAISED 
EVEN IF IT IS TO DISPUTE THEIR IMPORTANCE. 
a. 2B (or not 2B)? Shares a very famous line for Hamlet’s soliloquy which begins with, 
“To be or not to be...”. In short, Hamlet is considering whether or not to live or die. 
This seems like a very unrelated point compared to the absurdity of this short play, 
but there is a parallel. Frannys’ entire life has been spun around once her boyfriend 
Frank breaks up with her and starts dating her friend Eleanor. She continues to call 
him and try to win him back by making changes to herself physically and emotionally 
to fit Frank’s ideals. “I’ve had all the not nice unlikable parts removed so if you call me 
I’m sure we can work it out” (pg. 41). Dave the Bee questions Franny, “Franny oh 
Franny, have you looked at your life lately?” then points out later on in the scene that, 
“All of your qualities that absolutely don’t work as a female human will work like 
gangbusters as a bee” (pg. 45). While not as extreme as in Hamlet, Dave is asking 
Franny if the life she is living now, is truly worth living, if she has convinced herself 
that she cannot let go of what she has, which in turn has made her life miserable. We 
are afraid of change, but that is not an excuse for refusing to grow a little.   
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Character Analysis - 2B (OR NOT 2B?) 
   
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Name  Franny Dambrose   Dave the Bee 
pg. 44 

Age  30’s  30’s ? 

Physical traits  Hairy legs, beautiful   Yellow and black stripes, a stinger  
pg. 41 & 44  pg. 46 

Family history and relationships  Friend : Eleanor  Has brothers and cousins  
Ex-boyfriend : Frank  pg. 45 
pg. 41 
“Well my first relationships were with typical 
self-involved commitment phobes when I was 
between the ages of say, five and twelve. Then 
junior high was alcoholics, high school was drug 
addicts, college: gay men a guy who owned a 
duck, then a physically challeneged interpretive 
ice skater, meaning, you know, an amputee 
who’d skate wiht a kind of stick with a blade a the 
bottom, then I married a guy who liked to put 
garlic in his ears, but I went awat a lot witth my 
boyfriend who was a puppeteer for the blind, 
hen my husband fell for a woman with short 
limbs, and I got pregnant but lost the baby and 
the father, well, he was a midwesterner, so, then 
I had a slew of internet dates with incredibly 
boring men which is I guess a sign of getting 
older...” (pg. 43) 

Occupation   Receptionist. Former artist (experimental painter)  Worker bee 

Self-Image  Thinks she isn’t good enough  Worker bee 

pg. 41 

Class or social status  Lower middle class  Same class as all bees 
pg. 43 

Behavior  Chaotic, emotion driven, paranoid, over-thinker,  Serious, matter of fact, straight-forward.  
impulsive.   “BEE. Is this 2B? 
pg. 41, 43  FRANNY. What? 
BEE. 2B or not 2B? 
FRANNY. It’s a joke, right? 
BEE. I wouldn’t make a joke like that.” 
pg. 42 

Social relationships  Lots of failed relationships (listed above). Main  His bee cousins and brothers.  
social relationships with her ex-boyfriend Frank  pg. 45 
and her friend Eleanor.  
pg. 41 

Romantic relationships  Failed relationships (listed above), the main  Franny Dambrose 
relationship is with ex-boyfriend Frank and Dave  pg. 47 
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the Bee.  
pg. 41 & 47 

Political life  Based on her painting with menstrual blood I  Are bees politically affiliated? They don’t 
would assume that she is socially liberal.   have the right to vote so I assume not.  
pg. 43 

Social goals   She wants to get back together with Frank but  Convince Franny to be the queen of their 
that doesn’t seem like it’s going to work out.   hive.  
pg. 47  “We want you to be our Queen.” 
pg. 44 

Political goals  A safer society for women!  I don’t think bees care much. Maybe he’s 
pg. 43  in favor of laws that protect the 
environment and save the bees.  

Intellectual abilities  Competent and hard working when she’s  Great at making honey and sering his 
passionate.   Queen.  
pg. 44 

Emotional stability  Unstable and unhinged due to the breakup.   Stable.  

 
“Franny Dambrose, you are wonderfully 
demanding, fascinatingly moody, exquisitely 
impossible to please… Complicated, 
codependent and controlling...” pg. 44 

Objectives in scene  Getting the bee out of her apartment.   Convincing Franny to become Queen of 
his beehive.  

Tactics or methods for achieving  Threatening  Gift Giving 

“... I’ll call the police” pg. 42  “BEE. You like flowers, don’t you, Franny? 
“OK. Get out. Or I will spray you with this deadly  FRANNY. How do you know my name? 
spray” pg. 43  BEE. (​pulls out bouquet.​) And tulips are 
Persuading  you favorite, aren’t they?” pg. 43 
“Look, the park is a few blocks away, if you could  Complementing 
just fly over there. I’m sure you’d be happier.” pg.  “Franny Dambrose, you are wonderfully 
41  demanding, fascinatingly moody, 
Bargaining  exquisitely impossible to please… 
“OK, take whatever you want. I only have ten  Complicated, codependent and 
dollars, but I’ll write down my PIN number. My  controlling...” pg. 44 
banks on the corner, you can have it all.” pg. 42  Persuading 
Pleading   “We want to give ou eveything you 
“OK. Could you just go? Please. Um. Shoo. Go.”  always wanted, but thoughtt you couldn’t 
pg. 41  have: love, fulfillmentt, hot sex; we will 
serve your every need.” pg. 44 
Seducing 
“Do you know how intoxicatingly 
beautiful you are?” pg. 43 
 
   
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Script Analysis – Core Actions and Beats 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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  Title  Objectives/Goals  Obstacles  Tactics 

Unit #1  Frank, Please!  Franny wants  He won’t answer  Explaining to him 
Frank to know  his phone.   that she is nicer 
she’s nicer.   now.  

Unit #2  Okay D-Bag...  To break up Frank  He won’t answer  Telling Frank that 
and Eleanor /  the phone.   Eleanor has an 
convince him to  STD / waxing her 
get back together  legs.  
with her.  

Unit #3  BEE GONE!  Get human sized  He won’t move.   Running away / 
bee out of her  offering 
apartment.   alternatives.  

Unit #4  Is this 2B?  Bee wants to be in  She won’t tell him  He asks if he’s in 
Franny’s  if he’s in the right  the right place.  
apartment.   place or not.  

Unit #5  Have it all.   Get the bee out of  He insists on  Bargaining, she 
her apartment.   staying.   offers him her 
purse and all her 
money. She also 
offers her honey.  

Unit #6  Who hurt you?  The bee wants  She keeps  Reassuring her: “I 
Franny to know  pointing out that  won’t hurt you.. 
that he won’t hurt  he’s a bee.   Why would I hurt 
her.  you?” 

Unit #7  How’s life?  The bee wants  She is  Prying: Asking 
Franny to  disillusioned that  her how her love 
understand that  things will  life is going and 
her life isn’t going  somehow work  listening to her 
well as a human.   out.   reasoning.  

Unit #8  Blah, Blah, Blah  Franny wants to  She continues to  Explaining her 
share about how  get distracted by  lovers in great 
her love life is  her own story.   detail.  
going.  

Unit #9  Oh shit, that’s  Get the bee out of  He’s in her room  Threatening him 
right.   her apartment.   and insists on  with bug spray 
staying.   then escaping.  

Unit #10  We know you.   Convince Franny to  She can’t  Complementing 
become Queen of  comprehend  her. Offering her 
the beehive.   what he’s asking.   “love, fulfillment, 
hot sex...” 

Unit #11  Think about it.  The bees goal is  Franny keeps  Reasoning and 
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for Franny to see  coming up with  explaining.  

how being a  reasons to say 
Queen is a better  no.  
life option for her.  

Unit #12  Seriously?  The bee wants  She is denying  Attacking her 
Franny to see that  everything he’s  points.  
her current  pointing out.  
situation isn’t all 
that.  

Unit #13  Franny oh  The bee wants to  She keeps  Questioning her.  
Franny...  know what’s really  refuting his 
causing Franny’s  attempts to get 
hesitation.   through to her.  

Unit #14  Touch it.  The bee wants  She says no.   Persisting.  
Franny to touch his 
stinger.  

Unit #15  Change is good.   The bee wants to  Franny is afraid  Connecting with 
show Franny what  of him.   her.   
she could have.  

Unit #16  Powerful.   The bee wants  She doesn’t see  Seducing her.  
Franny to see how  the bigger 
joining the hive  picture.  
would benefit her.  

Unit #17  Frank…?  The bee wants  Franny makes  Dissuading her.  
Franny to ignore a  excuses to 
phone call from  answer the 
Frank.   phone.  

Unit #18  Are you  Franny wants  He doesn’t want  Confirming.  

kidding?!?  Frank to  her to call 
understand what  anymore.  
she’s been telling 
him.  

Unit #19  Let’s Fly.   Franny wants  He doesn’t  Making a 

Frank to know he’s  understand the  statement.  
out of the picture.   context.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Blocking   
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Administrative Materials 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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Kota’s Audition Form   Kota’s Availability 

Lucy’s Audition Form  Lucy’s Availability 

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Combined Availability   Preliminary Rehearsal Schedule 

1. Tuesdays 5-6pm  

2. Fridays 4-5pm 

3. Sundays 6-8pm 

 
   
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Preliminary GroundPlan Final Groundplan   
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Notes 
 
 
Props:   Set:  Costume:  Words/terms: 
- Wax  - Cabinet  - Stinger  - Ostomy: 
- Phone  - Studio  - Antennae  surgery/openi
- Purse  apartment  - Wings  ng 
- Bug spray  - Bed  - Crown  - Ectomy: 
- Bouquet (of  - Window  - Stripes (the  surgical 
tulips)  - Door  ones Dave put  removal 
- Face crayons  on Franny)  - Papilloma 
  virus: warts 
- Entomology: 
study of 
insects 
- Gangbuster: 
someone who 
breaks up a 
gang 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
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Rehearsal Journal   
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Auditions 
 
October 23, 2019 
 
 
When preparing for auditions I wanted to assess two really important factors in my scene: A 
scatterbrained Franny, and whether or not the actors were comfortable with sexual tension and 
contact in the scene. This prompted me to choose sides that could solicit these during auditions. It 
was important to me that Franny’s character was desperate and scattered during her monologues, 
so I chose her second monologue where she opens up about her “female love life”. I also thought it 
was crucial that my actors have a physical chemistry. The last two pages of the script are centered 
around Franny giving into the Bee’s sexual advantages, if the actors weren’t comfortable and excited 
during this scene, there would be issues. This reinforced my decision to have the most 
“uncomfortable” portion of my scene be used during auditions, it helped me weed out actors who 
weren’t comfortable early in the process.  
When analyzing Franny’s character, I imagined her to be self-obsessed, naive, desperate and 
confused. She had come to a crossroads in her life and wasn’t quite sure what to do next. The Bee 
on the other hand was sure of his purpose, to recruit Franny as his Queen. The two characters are 
complementary, The Bee giving Franny a solution to her self identity crisis. Our first day of auditions 
I had Piper, Rachel, Daria and Natasha read for Franny. Piper made a strong choice to give Franny an 
almost psychotic nature. While I respect her choice, I didn’t think she captured Franny’s youth. 
Rachel chose to use a voice that wasn’t hers. This threw me off and it was hard to see the character 
past that. I didn’t see any consideration for conditioning forces, the read through was slow, and it 
felt too gimmicky.  
I had Natasha read with Weston as the bee, and I saw little to no chemistry between them as 
their characters. Although Natasha had a sense of worry that made sense for her character, she 
didn’t seem intrigued or allured by the bee in her space, she seemed annoyed. Daria was very astute 
in remembering her conditioning forces, and I was able to picture the space she was in as she read 
the scene. She took her time with the scene, but it wasn’t too slow. She brought the youth and 
scattered personality that I was looking for. I had Daria and Elliot read the “​touch my stinger...​” scene 
together. It was much more sexual than I wanted, almost like they had been with each other before. 
I was looking for more discovery and wonder in this section, but these two were more inclined to 
focus on the sexual chemistry itself.  
On the second day I had some really strong reads. The actors that stood out most to me 
were: Weston, Lucy, and Kota. Lucy was continually strong while reading for Franny. She brought a 
youth and self-obsessed nature that I thought worked great for the character. She also chose to 
make strong character choices like miming waxing her legs while holding a phone with her shoulder. 
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She read these lines with a distressed tone which I also loved. She read the lines exactly as I had 
read them to myself, emphasizing what I thought to be important words and points in the story 
while taking enough time for the lines to make sense to the audience. Weston also delivered the 
lines exactly as I’d imagined. He was attentive and observant of Franny, giving all of his attention to 
her, calmly waiting for her to approach him, doing his best not to intimidate her, educating her on 
who he is plainly and simply. Kota on the other hand was a little more concerned with his 
surroundings, an interesting character choice, but not the one I was looking for. I wanted to see that 
the Bee was more than aware of his purpose.  
When it came to casting, I had four people I was passionate about working with: Weston, 
Lucy, Kota and Daria. My ideal cast was Lucy and Weston because I thought they executed my vision 
without me explaining it. I was also open to directing Daria and Kota, but I knew I’d have more work 
to do in communicating what I wanted to them. In the end, I was given a fair mix. I think Lucy and 
Kota will be great together. My goal is to communicate to Kota that I’d love to see him ​serve​ Franny.    
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First Rehearsal 
 
November 1, 2019 
 
 
I was scheduled to meet with both Kota and Lucy but there was some communication 
confusion and Lucy wasn’t able to make it. Regardless, I went through the script with Kota, defining 
some words/phrases that may cause confusion. We also discussed the following questions:  
 
Do you have any questions about the script? He didn’t have any questions 
 
What did you connect with? He said it was difficult to connect with the part of a bee, I responded 
saying that he could try relating to some of the dialogue between him and Franny. I used the section 
where Dave is asking Franny about her “human female love life” as an example.  
 
What are you characters intentions? 
 
Coerce: Kota first started with this verb, I disagreed with it but I didn’t mention it at the time. In my 
mind coerce means to use force, which is not the case in this scene.  
 
Persuade, convince, seduce, rationalize.  
 
One interesting point Kota brought up is that Dave the Bee is drawing parallels between Franny’s life 
and his own. The bee tries to convince Franny by telling her that she could paint in the hive with 
pollen, she wouldn’t be alone on a Friday night, she’d be helping the greater good, etc.  
 
Kota also pointed out the he has to convince Franny to accept an absurd proposal. He thinks his 
tactic should be rationalizing and explaining what the hive life is like  
 
When I listened to Kota read his lines, I noticed how much he embellished his lines. He took far too 
long to get through short phrases and was distracted easily. He would also stop and share how he 
thought L​ ucy ​should read some of her lines, even though she wasn’t there. I responded by saying 
“ok” and “I see what you’re saying” trying to make it clear that I won’t accept or decline any of his 
“directing”. I’m worried that Kota will continue to do more of this. I’m also trying to game plan how 
I’m going to get him from over-embellishing his lines, to being more of a supportive character for 
Lucy to respond to. The way Kota is reading it now, he sounds condescending, ingenuine, menacing, 
and evil. I want the bee character to cherish Franny, to treat her as a Queen the second he sees her. 
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I want his character to be much moore submissive to meet the needs of Franny (seeing as she is 
even described as controlling).  
 
 
   
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November 18, 2019 

 
 
Today over rehearsal I worked on intentions and 
obstacles with my actors. We had a read through and my 
apartment and discussed intentions during certain moments of 
the play. We identified areas that needed special attention 
versus others, and also discussed the importance of tone and 
distinguishing moments. Our read through took a really long 
time. Both of my actors like to over embellish their lines and 
milk the stage. I asked them to do a quick read through at the 
end and even then it took about ten minutes. They had lots of 
ideas for props and costumes. I listened to their suggestions 
but didn’t confirm or promise anything. I noticed that these 
two like to brainstorm ideas for this scene (which I understand 
because of how quirky and fun it is) and they really hope I input their ideas.  
Today I was much more confident and assured in keeping them focused although there 
were some times I could have wrangled them in sooner. Kota continues too use a menacing, almostt 
sinister tone when he reads his lines. I asked him what his goal was in this scene and he had the 
right idea; to convince Franny to be his Queen. I pointed out that it may be hard to do so when he 
sounds so intimidating, also showing him that Franny’s biggest fear is bees, which makes it extra 
important that he is zoned in on he characters needs. This worked for a short period of time but he 
continued to slip in and out of the same voice. I then prompted him to thing about some of his 
verbs: calming her down and reassuring. We looked over the lines and noticed the bee uses logic to 
try and convince Franny to be Queen, and I suggested that he try to use a more logical, matter of 
fact tone to accomplish this. This too worked for a bit but ultimately Kota went back to what he 
knew. I’m hoping to be a little more firm with him next time to clearly indicate what I’m looking for 
from him.    
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November 19, 2019 

 
Today we blocked our scene. I tried hard 
not to focus too much on acting since they 
were getting used to their places, but I 
gave a few notes as we ran through. 
Blocking can be found in my “Core Actions 
and Beats” section on 12. As for acting 
notes, I discussed with Lucy some points 
in the script that I thought would help her 
character. I showed her the line, “I avoid 
practically the entire outdoors because of 
you.” to give some context into how afraid 
she would be of a bee randomly showing 
up in her apartment. We also identified some moments in the scene where there would need to be 
tone shifts and we found some areas where Lucy’s character would need to momentarily abandon 
her fear of bees (also discussed in Core Beats and Actions). They took to the blocking very easily and 
didn’t have much trouble repeating it after the first run. I’m a little worried during one section that I 
have them standing for too long, but I’m currently waiting for more ideas on what they can do to 
generate in my head.    
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November 20, 2019 

 
Today I worked alone with Lucy on her two monologues. We went over the first one and she 
identified some verbs for herself: Dissuade, manipulate and bargain. As she was reading through it 
came to me that the first bit of her monologue when she’s on the phone with Frank is her pleading 
for him to come back to her. She’s apologizing for her mistakes, where as the rest of the monologue 
she’s pointing out h
​ is ​mistakes. This helped us in focusing on a tone and tactic switch within the 
monologue which really helped to with a tone shift. We were originally struggling with the 
monologue sounding very one note because Lucy was just reading it as frightened and she tended 
to stay in a higher, pitchier resonance which got old quickly. We decided that in that first bit of the 
monologue we wanted Franny to seem like the victim, but it was also Franny reflecting on her 
actions.  
Next we looked at the tail end of her monologue when the bee approached. We recognized 
this as another huge tone shift and talked about what Franny would do. Lucy pointed out that she 
starts by trying to get the bee out of her apartment. Franny then offers substitutes to being in her 
room, almost bargaining with the bee. In her next monologue we had a little difficulty with this shift. 
This monologue is when the bee asks Franny about her “human female love life”, to which Franny 
responds with a long monologue about her past lovers. It was evident that Franny had begun to 
drop her guard and had somehow forgotten that one of her worst fears was right in front of her. We 
discussed why this might be. Lucy suggested that Franny was so self-obsessed that while answering 
the question she then became really involved with her own story to the point where she did drop 
her fear. Then at some point she is reminded of the current situation and continues telling her story 
while searching for bug spray to get the bee out of her apartment. I asked Lucy if she thought 
Franny would spend a little time trying to recall her past lovers and she liked that idea. She wanted 
to use the line “... the men tell long stories that sound like intricate recipes on how to marinate 
poultry.” as the point where she changes her tone. I haven’t been in love with that transition but I 
haven’t had any other suggestions so far.    
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Final Journal Entry 

 
Reflecting on my experience I was not impressed with my performance as a director. I was 
so excited about going into this class and being given the opportunity to be in this role, but overall I 
don’t think I gave myself and my actors enough time to play with the script. Surprisingly, we had a 
well polished and substantially positive finished product, but I also wonder if most directors are 
never quite satisfied with their work. I tend to be hard on myself, so I wonder if the reason I say that 
I think I did poorly was because I actually did, or just because I’m a perfectionist. To me, I could see 
the issues that we had in rehearsal on stage, but I don’t think the audience would ever notice. This 
just makes me more curious as to whether or not I succeeded in my part. Is it the feeling of being 
unaccomplished that defines whether or not I’m a good director, or is it solely based on the 
audiences perspective?  
If I were to first define it as based on how I felt I did, there is one main reason the scene 
didn’t run as well as I’d hoped; having enough rehearsal time. My actors and I only had three 
rehearsals together, and that was all in one week. This was not ideal, but we also didn’t have a lot of 
options. It would appear based on our combined availability that we would have plenty of time to 
rehearse, but I realized that I had completed my sheet before factoring in Sweat rehearsals. The 
production had taken up a lot of my spare time, and my actors suffered because of it. Luckily, the 
scene that we had was comical and light hearted. There was room for error, awkward tensions, 
silent moments, because in a ridiculous scene like mine, the audience expects that everything will be 
funny, even if they don’t know why or how it’s funny. There were a few silent moments from 
forgetting lines, but they were almost unrecognizable because the actors I had chosen had 
experience and are both good at improving their way through. Regardless of their strengths though, 
I had put them in a position where they weren’t given the space and time to do their best, to know 
their lines, and to be confident with their intentions and movements. It wasn’t until my actors were 
running through tech and a run-through before their performance that they had nailed down their 
lines and blocking, and even then, Kota couldn’t remember his first cue! I think if we had set aside 
enough time to rehearse, just so they had lots of repetition, they would have done better.  
When I think about the factors that inhibited my scene, I also like to look at the positive. If 
limited time was the biggest hindering factor in my directing process, I don’t have too much to worry 
about. Hopefully, if I am working as a director, my job would be my only focus. I would have eight 
hours each day, designated towards growing one piece, also knowing that my actors had already 
agreed to their commitment and making an equal amount of time to work with me. That being said, 
I think my biggest challenge was time and repetition, but I also think this is an easy challenge to 
overcome.  
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Lastly, if I was viewing my success based on the audience's standpoint, I’d say I succeeded. 
Our audience responded well to the scene, and I received several positive comments after the 
show. My actors were hilarious! It’s hard to go wrong with this scene because the script itself is 
hilarious, it basically speaks for itself, and I think my actors knew that! Despite the challenges I had 
with Kota at the beginning of the rehearsal process, the few days leading up to the performance he 
was doing exactly what I wanted! During tech I had asked him to pay more attention to Lucy. I told 
him, “imagine that she’s like an insecure girlfriend, and you’re just trying to get her to realize how 
beautiful she is”. I think this must have clicked, because after that I was so happy with his character! I 
could also tell Lucy was incorporating all my notes, and I couldn’t ask for anything more. My biggest 
struggle is trusting that my notes had good instincts, and that they resonate well with my actors and 
audience.