An Unfortunate Unexpected Ending

[An email that we just sent out...]

To the cast and crew of Sons of the Revolution:

It is with great sadness that we have come to the decision not to proceed with PRT’s August production of SOTR.

Steve and I have had some long and painful conversations – just the two of us, and with PRT President John Goring and Producer Chuck Dent. The four of us have come to the conclusion that we are better off to stop now. Many factors contributed to this decision, and we thought we would help shed some light on things:

1. PRT admits it had bitten off a little more than it could chew by committing to a Fringe Show in June, their annual Summer Shorts in July, and then a full production in August.
2. Chuck was not able to be as hands-on a producer as originally planned because of an unforeseen change in his work schedule. Steve and I were happy to jump in and do what we could to make the show a success. But even with the two of us and Chad trying to handle the producing end, we were not able to accomplish all that needed to be done.
3. Chad had to leave the show partially because of unforeseen personal matters as well as a general uneasiness as he saw the show rolling faster and faster down the hill without many important components in place. While his departure was the unfortunate straw that broke the camel’s back, we want to be very clear that we feel no ill will towards him for the decision he had to make. He had already given us some great ideas and presented an amazing visual concept for the show. He still wants to be involved with this play’s future, and we absolutely hope that happens.
4. Steve and I also feel partially responsible in that we know we have written an extremely dense, challenging play that may be deemed unproducible by some. (At least without a Broadway-level budget.) Another play may have been able to overcome these hurdles, but we didn’t believe this one could. And we did not want to see a mad scramble to throw together a slapdash production. That would have been a disservice to us as writers and to the actors and artistic directors. So, we are taking this opportunity to go back to the drawing board and see if we can somehow remedy this.

We cannot say thank you enough to all of you for so generously giving your time and commitment to this play. We are deeply sorry for any inconvenience the cancellation may cause you as far as work schedules and other projects. Sons of the Revolution is not dead, it is just taking a much-needed break to come back even stronger.

To the cast: Avis, John B, Brett, Patrick, John C, Dennis, Josh, Annie, Eric, Jeff, Gina, Jocelyn, John W (and yes, even you, Bill): We couldn’t have been more pleased with each and every one of you. We give you our word that you will be contacted when the play re-emerges and is ready to go up again. If we have our way, all 14 of you will be seen in this show.

To the crew members who gave so much for so little: Chad, Debbie, Michael, Catherine, Tommy, Jason, Allen, Cathy, and Joan: We are still amazed that you believed enough in our work to offer your expertise in making the show a success. We will always treasure our short time together, and hope that someday we are able to work with you again.

And to Chuck, John, and PRT, we offer our thanks for their optimism and support that they and Playwrights’ Round Table have shown us in this project and others over the years.

We still don’t feel that these words can adequately express our gratitude and how much we appreciate each and every one of you. You have shown us much love and we are truly humbled.

David & Steve

P.S. We plan to keep our (geeky) blog about the show; you can always check back every now and then to see if there are any developments: http://sonsoftherevolution.blogspot.com/