I watch the actors’ expressionless faces as the verdict is read out: “A step backward Debra is now too angry Linda is posturing. I have long since stopped paying attention.MONDAY: Again, two run-throughs. In the business they’re calling it “WED”, after the first- name initials of the authors. Thomas Enqvist ends up beating him badly in the quarter-final on Friday.Michael Joyce in close-up, viewed eating supper or riding in a courtesy car, looks slighter and younger than he does on court. The meeting ends indeterminately, with the actors under the impression that there will be more discussion before we do the cuts, Elaine that they will be implemented. Linda is all over the place trying to adjust to an unfamiliar tempo.In the evening Elaine turns up and so do all three producers. The factions are now in the open: Jean Doumanian and Letty Aronson, Woody’s sister, are in Woody’s camp, Julian in Elaine’s.

I’m in the middle, receiving whispered asides, first in one ear, then in the other. Letty: “Why is Linda playing Elaine’s play as if it’s Medea?” Elaine: “Why is Debra playing Woody’s play as if she’s a Midwestern ranch-owner shouting orders at the hands?” Jean says nothing but looks blankly disappointed, as if she’d thrown a party and only the dull guests have shown up.Elaine has cuts and additions that she wants to give herself, so late at night we retire to the Ramada lobby, as huge as a stadium, with a sunken area in the middle descending to the hotel’s disco.The noise is deafening For over an hour we discuss maybe four lines of dialogue At the end of a long day I find the showspeak excruciating. Debra, gallant but nervous, has shouted all her lines at snail’s pace, and because she is unsure of herself, seems to have doubled in size. I explain that because he promoted her so strongly for the role in the first place he’s overly concerned that she succeed. In spite of her courage, the tears well up.At the tech [technical rehearsal] of Central Park West, which occupied the rest of the day, I managed to do some detailed work on the last third But there is still much to be done. American actors are great when they are centrestage but tend to lose interest or go in perverse directions when they are just one part of an ensemble.SUNDAY: We run the entire show twice, first in the afternoon, then in the evening.

This is the day Jane Greenwood shows us her costumes and we incorporate them into the performance. Woody is there for the first showing of his play, and pronounces himself better pleased. He hands me a tiny piece of paper, with only seven notes on it, and darts out of the building to make a new film before breakfast, or something I, however, am uneasy. But I see a pink rash creeping up her neck, and know that inwardly she’s getting more and more upset. Afterward, I whisk her into her dressing-room to assure her that Woody is essentially on her side She’s convinced that she’s going to be fired. Debra, a pro, listens in silence and makes a show of taking notes. The first half hour of his notes is given to one actor, Debra Monk.

She’s not slow enough, not malicious enough, not funny enough – the list of her shortcomings is endless. Overnight he’s calmed down a bit, and is now thinking, quite properly, about the text. Notwithstanding yesterday, I found him stimulating to deal with; he’s direct and lucid when he speaks and listens attentively when you do. These cuts will be helpful and I hope there will be more to come.TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7THHere’s an account of the run-up to our first public performance in Stamford:SATURDAY: Woody insists on visiting us at the start of the day’s work to give us his notes, and, with some misgivings, allow him to speak to the cast directly. But will anyone listen to me? This is America, where everyone knows how to fix it, and wants to fix it now. On his movies when Woody’s displeased he fires, then reshoots And I dare say extreme opinions help him get his way. But in the theatre, where we have to depend on each other for the whole journey, reckless criticism can be extremely destructive.My job may turn out to be mainly protecting these plays from their creators.THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2NDThis morning Woody rang me at the hotel to discuss some cuts.