Slings & Arrows
A few months ago, gaussjordan loaned me the DVDs for the show Slings & Arrows. It's a show about a Shakespearean theatre in Canada. Each season is about their performance of one show, and the plot of the season (in broad outline) mirrors the plot of the show they're performing. The first season, about Hamlet, involves the death of the theatre's artistic director who then proceeds to haunt his former protege (with whom he had a falling out) who returns to take his place. It features suitable death, madness, and lost love to match Hamlet, and, naturally, has a play within a play, although with rather different outcome from Hamlet itself.
You might imagine that this show might be brilliant, or it might be absurd and unwatchable. Indeed, I watched the first two episodes some time ago and enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I watched the third yesterday and had the same reaction. And then I watched the fourth today, and couldn't stop until I'd finished the season (fortunately, only six episodes in total). The show reaches brilliance.
Slings & Arrows doesn't settle for just one subject. It hits many elements of drama and observes us (humanity) and how we act with great precision and wry wit (not unlike Shakespeare, unsurprisingly). Yet it also shines in how it handles The Theatre, with capital Ts. It asks, quite directly, why theatre is important --- indeed, in its first season, it asks what theatre has on movies, a question that I have always been fascinated with. It asks why Shakespeare is important, and what is, after all, so amazing about him. (Nicely touching, at the same time, with the question about pretending to be someone you're not, and trying to live up to the role of someone who has gone before you.) Everyone involved in this production has such a love for these great works of art and communicates it so well. It got me, really, really well.
For those who are theatre buffs, the show is marvelous. It hits exactly what backstage looks like. The directors and actors are completely right, and you really get to see the process that makes a play work, the evolution of the acting, what good acting is and what bad acting is. But much more than that, it touches on how delicate the interaction can be between a role and your life.
But even if you're not a theatre buff, it is a good, solid show. It is funny, and it is often even witty. It has good drama, interesting characters, and --- needless to say --- very strong acting. The whole production is done with a rather divine style.
Although I really could use those three hours I spent today for other work, I am so happy with my time investment. This one's a winner, and I look forward to the next two seasons.
You might imagine that this show might be brilliant, or it might be absurd and unwatchable. Indeed, I watched the first two episodes some time ago and enjoyed it but wasn't blown away. I watched the third yesterday and had the same reaction. And then I watched the fourth today, and couldn't stop until I'd finished the season (fortunately, only six episodes in total). The show reaches brilliance.
Slings & Arrows doesn't settle for just one subject. It hits many elements of drama and observes us (humanity) and how we act with great precision and wry wit (not unlike Shakespeare, unsurprisingly). Yet it also shines in how it handles The Theatre, with capital Ts. It asks, quite directly, why theatre is important --- indeed, in its first season, it asks what theatre has on movies, a question that I have always been fascinated with. It asks why Shakespeare is important, and what is, after all, so amazing about him. (Nicely touching, at the same time, with the question about pretending to be someone you're not, and trying to live up to the role of someone who has gone before you.) Everyone involved in this production has such a love for these great works of art and communicates it so well. It got me, really, really well.
For those who are theatre buffs, the show is marvelous. It hits exactly what backstage looks like. The directors and actors are completely right, and you really get to see the process that makes a play work, the evolution of the acting, what good acting is and what bad acting is. But much more than that, it touches on how delicate the interaction can be between a role and your life.
But even if you're not a theatre buff, it is a good, solid show. It is funny, and it is often even witty. It has good drama, interesting characters, and --- needless to say --- very strong acting. The whole production is done with a rather divine style.
Although I really could use those three hours I spent today for other work, I am so happy with my time investment. This one's a winner, and I look forward to the next two seasons.