Feedback - First Reading
After finishing the first full reading of the play with professional actors and a small invited audience I asked everyone to fill in some feedback forms, and some of the key questions and their responses are given below. (I can't include them all...it would give away the plot!). The forms were designed to give me an insight into what the play is actually communicating to the audience. I find that gathering this form of feedback is more helpful than just asking what people "did like" and "didn't like". All the questions required an answer on a scale of "Strongly agree" down to "Strongly disagree"
Actors
David - Stuart Horobin
Ashley - Tom Wells
Det. Cross - Jo Billingham
Michael - Alan Wales
Fletcher - Radley Russell
Det. Bishop - Cat McDonald
What the feedback seems to suggest is that the ending needs some work - something that I had suspected from my own reading of the play. Also, it is clear some more work is needed on the characterisation and dialogue as some people felt they only "partly agreed" about character believability, and the relationship between the two key characters.
It was good to see that the title and the relevance of the play was mutually appreciated by everyone at the reading, and for the most part the story is generally very clear.
Coupled with more specific feedback comments from individuals, I have a good indication of what I want to focus on for Draft 3.