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All theatrical improvisation games begin with the same rule: Always say yes. This means that whatever one's partner does or says, go with it. The rule is intended to stretch our creative muscles by forcing us to avoid planning in advance. It requires us to remain open to every new thing that might come our way. Pace breaks this rule because she is trying to control their play, and through it her life. This attempt at control was beautifully manifested by Marissa Cowsill in a production of Trestle at the Eclipse Theatre in Chicago in 2009. In contrast to the more halting, reflective actions of other actors in Wallace plays that I have seen, Cowsill's physicality and forceful and energetic, as if she were using the power of her movement, her wishes, and her very being to bend the world to her will. Her attempts fail, however, because here actions take place within a broader system of forces - a fact demonstrated in the rehearsals for running the train. . . .
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