The first thing that struck me when I considered the undertaking of directing "2001" was its mythical scope. From the dawn of man to our eventual eve, there are certain questions we continue to ask ourselves. Generation to generation, the stories evolve as we evolve, each storyteller clarifying the story and changing it in subtle ways while maintaining the core. It was my great pleasure to find on the Internet an early version of this Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick classic, a version that included the narration you will hear during our performance.
While I was obviously forced to make some adaptations in order to present this as a play instead of a movie, the dialogue is almost entirely as I found it, subtle changes made only to accommodate our more modest venue. The desire and the challenge of putting on this production was to make the story more human, more based on emotion: a result that is natural in the conversion from screen to stage. Could this strongly visual movie be adapted while maintaining the core of the myth?
I still don’t know the answer. But I’m fortuate enough to have participated in the search for those answers over the past few month. I’ve watched the evolution of the play and marveled at the many paths we followed. Each actor on the stage and each member of the production crew have contributed time, passion, and insight to help shape it. Each of them is a storyteller, clarifying their roles, thereby changing the whole into the play you see today. All of us were able to pursue the answers, because Jack kept things in order and on track. "Jack, you Rock!"
We hope you enjoy the play
Daryl Thompson
