the same token, the actors—at a later point—are also developing rich inner lives for their characters, which usually helps me to fill in the details.
also, it’s very helpful to talk about performance style with the director, and what the relationship is between the audience and the performer. this is often the very first question i ask myself when starting to think about a design—how is the audience situated within this performance experience? is the audience included in the space, or not? do the actors directly address the audience? the answers to these questions can be a big clue for me to figure out the nature of the space we are 