I received this post from actor, visionary, disturber of the peace, and forever maestra, Miss Magan Wiles.
Professor Friend –
I am excited to read your play/book/literary experience.
I want to read it all in one sitting,
With no interruptions,
To let it wash over me.
A man named Jurij Alschitz wrote a book
Called The Vertical of the Role
About the private rehearsal process of an actor,
And he asks that you begin your process of building a role
By reading the play this way:
Reverentially,
With care,
Not as something to be consumed in pieces
Whilst one answers text messages
And eats a sandwich.
And I want to read Dear Layla this way.
* Ekāgratā, Sanskrit. One-pointedness, doing only one thing at a time, concentrating upon a single object or task. – Diana Morrison, A Glossary of Sanskrit from the Spiritual Tradition of India (Nilgiri Press, 1977).
