The theory of Rock Theatre:

So I have this theory. Actors are at their best when they are terrified. When people are scared they are stripped to their essential core and have to just react. Got that? kay new point.
So one of the most terrifying things in the world is to be in a rock band. You have to constantly be paying attention and keep your head in the game. You don't know where the bass player is going to be so you just have to keep one eye on him so you don't run into each other. You don't know how long the guitar player will solo for so you just have to pay attention and jump in when the time is right. You don't know if the crowd is going to turn on you and you'll have to fight your way out of the bar.
Paying attention, listening, being ready these are basic acting tools. But in theatre you can be over prepared. You can rehearse something so much that it becomes stale and without that element of fear it loses it's sense of reality. It feels false.
Two nights ago my cast did a great performance. It was by far their most polised to date. But it was missing something. Fear.
So last night I put a bounty on all their heads. I told them that whomever made a fellow cast member break onstage while staying in character and not changing the script would get an extra $20 in their pay. Suddenly there was that sense of terror I'd been looking for. That sense of impending dread that had to be focused to get through the show.
It was a beautiful show. But my cast hated it. And now they probably hate me. They complained that the show dragged even though we finished a minute earlier. They complained about falling and getting hurt and I replied then they shouldn't do what made them fall next time. They complained that other cast members cheated and I congratulated them on paying attention.
They asked that we not do it ever again and I stopped myself from saying "You didn't have to do it this time." I mean think about it. As a director all I can do is ask them to participate I can't force them. They could have got together as a cast and said no we won't do this.
What I'm trying to do and what we almost accomplised last night was combine the ideas of theatre and a rock concert. To go back to the idea Richard O'Brian explored in the first production of Rocky Horror. The idea of a dangerous form of theatre with a sense that anything could happen at any moment.

I may get there and I just hope I don't piss off this cast too much along the way.