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Is a slap worse than a grope?
Does a push (on the forehead) hit harder than a pull (of the hair)?
When he viciously rebuffs Robertas attempt at connection, she shows her own beastly side.
after which he would explode out of his chair and choke her.
Its not an act of violence; its actually an act of restraint, he told the actors.
Hes like, Im holding back 99 percent of what I want to do.
First, she tried out a light slap.
A quick brush with the backs of her fingers across his cheek.
A maternal cuff on his hairline.
Look, Im just really gonna hit him sometimes, Plaza joked.
Its all about the fingers, right?
I taught you that, Abbott said proudly.
Its a short play with big swings, all ripe for undergraduate emoting.
Its almost trite, Ward said.
Like, You want to doDanny?
Of course you fucking do.
(Abbott got the part; Ward became his understudy.)
Ward, best known as an actor onAgents of S.H.I.E.L.D.,is making his professional directorial debut.
I want to be witnessing something I shouldnt be witnessing, Abbott told me.
Otherwise, he said, why do it live?
At the studio, the actors were workshopping Robertas whacks, making sure they escalated in the proper rhythm.
The first hit couldnt be too aggressive or it would overshadow the blows to come.
They tried it again and found it the ideal mix, demeaning but not threatening.
Its literally poking the bear, said Abbott.
The last hit was crucial, as it would prompt Dannys outburst.
Its about insulting your manhood.
Thats the thing that pushes you, Leary told Abbott.
What if the final thing was not a moment of violence?
He grabbed Abbotts pants near the inner thigh.
This play would not be written today, Plaza said.
But thats whats so interesting about doing it now.
We were in the dance studio, chatting before the next days rehearsals began.
Plaza had brought crackers, avocado dip, and rolled dates.
Im much more of a people pleaser than Chris, she said.
She recalled reading Shanleys play and feeling like it was ripping your heart out.
Its so sincere, she said.
Everything today is dripping with disdain.
Plaza is half Puerto Rican, while Abbott is part Italian; both identified withDannys lack of Waspish piety.
Abbott has appeared Off Broadway a half-dozen times and on Broadway once.
Plaza never went to an acting conservatory and says she has impostor syndrome with theater.
After weeks of rehearsals, they bust each others balls like siblings.
While practicing the choke, Plaza urged Abbott to be careful: I got a loose neck.
He fell into the voice of a neurotic New Yorker: It runs in my family!
I grew up on Loose Neck Farm!
Plaza said she wrote Abbott a letter that she never sent, begging him to be in it.
ForDanny,Abbott returned the favor: Plaza was the first actress he thought of.
Aubreys got a Gena Rowlands thing, he said.
The kind of energy you see in Cassavetes movies.
They learned they felt safe with each other.
Shanleys play can be dangerous for an actor all those slaps and chokes.
Aubrey can trust me to be wild and have restraint at the same time, Abbott said.
She insisted, Plaza said.
Shes trying to whip me into shape.
Its a thing I feel like I dont know.
Patti said, The performance islifted.
It made sense to me.
Shortly before rehearsals started, Plaza came down with a bad case of strep throat.
I was like, Why is this happening?
Patti went, Its happening because you have to toughen up.
The spark came from the plays subtitle:An Apache Dance.What if he added choreography?
At first, he worried he would get in trouble for cultural appropriation.
The playwright assented in theory but reserved the right to change his mind once he had seen it.
That week, Wards vision was on the line.
Shanley would visit in a few days.
He would either approve the dance sequences or not, in which case they would be scrapped.
I still think itll be good, but itll be much more basic, Ward told me.
We are running out of time, he kvetched to Rachel Bauder, the stage manager.
She tried to talk him down.
He was working with experienced professionals who had all done their homework.
No one would be tearing their hair out.
I will be tearingmyhair out, he replied.
A few days later, the clouds had passed.
Shanley had formally given his approval, and the team was in good spirits.
That afternoon, Plazas dog, Frankie, would be arriving from Los Angeles.
She doesnt let everybody in, she said.
You have to be calm and then shell come to you.
Abbott walked in: You talking about Patti?
Ive heard someone say its the worst transition in American theater, Ward told me.
The end of Scene One is so raw and so emotionally heightened.
And then a bunch of people in black T-shirts come out and switch over the set.
Ward hoped the inclusion of dance would keep the emotional momentum going.
Movement allowed Danny and Roberta to step outside themselves and express the inner lives they cant fully articulate.
They are too much for this world, these broken people, Smith said.
The world cant contain them, but they could contain each other.
Smith was away working in Basel, but Schraiber was in town to implement the choreography.
The actors ran through the duet, Plaza in a Bowie T-shirt and leggings, Abbott in JNCO jeans.
As Otis Redding played on the sound system, they held hands and swayed like middle-schoolers.
Soon, the dance opened up, got more modern.
The couple came together, then apart.
Plaza kicked her leg between Abbotts; he slapped it.
Then the music shifted.
Suddenly, they were grappling, clawing each others chests, their anger mixing with frenzied lust.
It has to realistically get to orgasm, Ward said.
Abbott interrupted, Have you ever seen, in porn, milking?
He mimed a hand job.
Plaza covered her face with her hands, then made the sign of the cross.
The actors thought one sequence, a box step, didnt have enough pizzazz.
It feels like were filling space, Abbott said.
Schraiber proposed a few variations.
Abbott might fall onto his back, then crab-walk backward while Plaza crawled over him.
Was that too much?
I feel like the 69 wont work without the screaming, said Schraiber.
It was too much.
What if he just threw me?
Schraiber went inside himself for a minute and tried out moves.
Maybe they could slap each other on the ass.
Like a horse, said Abbott.
Could Plaza crawl down his back?
The actors double-checked their grip, then ran it again.
Its actually it, Plaza told Abbott.
I flip myself, then you pull me up.
Abbott placed a pillow from the set on the floor just in case.
He looked at Bauder.
Rachels writing down the numbers of local hospitals.
They ran it again.
The next time, it looked even better.
The last time was the best of all.
Schraiber kicked the pillow away in triumph.
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