Which way does the play go? Let the audience decide!

 
Letting the audience decide the plot of a play as its being performed can be a little unsettling, actor Michelle Luchese says.
“It’s nerve-wracking for about a good three seconds,” Luchese, a member of Seaside Repertory Theatre, told The Log. “Then you just roll with it. It’s kind of fun — it keeps the show fresh every night. You never know which way it’s going to go.”
Luchese is one of the performers in Seaside’s free summer show, “A Stone That Sings,” a light-hearted fantasy structured like one of the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books of 20 years ago: At critical points in the plot, the cast lets the audience decide what should happen next.
Luchese said she and the other actors are getting a feel for what the audience will want, based on whether it’s mostly made up of kids, teens or parents, but sometimes they’re surprised: “This past week, it just went a totally different way than we thought the audience would pick.”
“They’ve been choosing different ones each week,” Artistic Director Craige Hoover said. “The cast loves it because they can improvise a lot.”
In addition to “The Stone That Sings,” Seaside Rep will open its summer comedy, “The Book of Liz,” by David and Amy Sedaris, on Wed., June 17. Luchese plays Sister Elizabeth, a member of the strict “Squeamish” religious sect who supports her community by making cheeseballs. Feeling unappreciated by her fellow Squeamish, she decides to try her luck in the outside world.
“It’s off-the-wall hilarious,” Hoover said. “The first time I read this, a couple of years ago, I decided it belonged on our stage. It’s that perfect balance of silliness and progressive humor.”
Hoover said he probably looks at 25 scripts for every play the company stages, and finishes maybe three of the 25.
“You can tell the voice of a play pretty early on,” he said. “Then you have to think about the tech stuff: Do you have enough room on the stage? Do you have enough actors? If I get three quarters of the way in and it calls for a 20-foot dragon, all bets are off.

“The Book of Liz” runs 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays from June 17 to July 25 at the Lyceum Hall in Seaside. Tickets are available at the door, or in advance by calling (850) 231-0733. “A Stone That Sings” is free, and runs 7:30 p.m. Monday through Aug. 10 in the Seaside Amphitheater. For more information and a list of other events, visit seasiderep.org.