intuition casting

I've been relatively absent this month, i know. With the start of production of my play, plus the apartment search, i've been swamped.
The auditions were crazy and wonderful. And hard. The play is called ROHTI SEX, a two-actor gender comedy about an alien world where women are dominant, and through a quirk of evolution men carry the babies. I'm directing and playing the male. It's madcap, with each actor playing many roles. Wigs and beards and animal costumes fly. It's the first play i wrote when i came to NY five years ago.
I first held auditions three years ago. That production didn't happen, in part because some funding fell through, but more essentially because i couldn't make a casting choice. Perhaps because my perfect stage partner never appeared. Or perhaps because i had reliability concerns with the actress who gave the greatest audition, but couldn't bring myself to not cast her. Ditto for an old, dear friend who gave a great audition. These roles are possibly the roles of a lifetime for both actors. It was just easier for me, i think, to back away and keep on writing plays.
I tried to keep these auditions modest. I saw seven actresses. With no director or other cast members to act as buffers, i knew chemistry was going to be more important than talent. I wanted a partner, more than someone to direct. I wanted someone i felt hugely comfy with. A pea to share my pod. I was selfishly tempted to call back five actresses, just because they were so wonderful, and i wanted to hear them all read my words aloud. But my intuition picked out the two most likely candidates, and those were the two i called back. Of course this meant ultimately disappointing one i liked very much. Again in a nod to chemistry, i didn't even call back the actress who gave the best pure reading. The two i called back couldn't have been much more different. Talent was the only common denominator. One was green, who knew that there would be some big walls she would have to break down to portray the sexuality and nudity in the play. But she relished the challenge, and she and i talked about the most intimate parts of our lives the very first time we met. The other actress was richly experienced and wide open already, a person who was leading a brilliant and bold and crazy life. She and i also hit it off wonderfully. In the end, i just couldn't intellectually make the choice, and went with the actress who popped into mind first, when i had line changes i wanted to share. Intuition. Fallible? Probably. But Evan told me, that casting week, to listen when the gods whisper to us. So i did. It's been brilliant so far. Sarah is going to be amazing in this play. Her walls will continue to fall. To that end, we're going to stand naked at the walking apex of the Queensboro Bridge one night at 4:30AM.
The process of creation. Sacred. And well, yeah, a blast.
I love you all.