The writing process for Nobody Inn was stressful and enjoyable in equal amounts.
Nobody Inn started as an incomplete idea that I disregarded. If I’d written it, I’d have struggled to write a fifteen minute script. It came up in conversation while writing a full scale musical with George Cella. Our writing, by our own admission, was getting out of control. We’d have needed a huge budget and we had next to nothing. So George asked what other ideas I had floating around.
Eventually, it was decided that Nobody Inn would be an ideal debut production for Akkail if we worked on it. The story we started crafting was very different from the original concept but maintained the idea of the ending.
The writing process for Nobody Inn was a lot of fun. We brought Marley Smith to the writing room and sat around a table for months throwing characters, plot points, and jokes at each other. The three of us worked against the clock to develop the idea. At this point, the theatre was already booked.
Once we had roughed out the purpose of each scene and arch of each character- along with some jokes- I set about writing the script and casting. I finished the third draft (the first I was happy with) the morning of the first read-through with the cast.
With the cast assembled, I redrafted the script a few times with feedback from the cast and directors. The final draft (of 2019) was completed just a week before the show opened.
Nobody Inn opened in August and was a success. I found myself up on the stage as Mr Hynes, George and Marley got themselves good seats to watch our hard work play out. The three of us almost couldn’t believe how much the audiences laughed. The mark of success for any comedy.