(no subject)
This past weekend I traveled to LA with two good friends to see Scott Caan's new play, "No Way Around But Through". My previous post details the ridiculous antics of the weekend itself, but this one is all about the play, which I enjoyed immensely.
Not sure whether I should warn for spoilers for a play (?), but there are a few light ones in here. If you're planning to see it and don't want to know anything you might want to stop here.
So the play! It's well-written and I sincerely hope it gets published, because the sheer amount of words it contains would be impressive to see in print. It was a lot of words you guys, all of which go by extremely quickly in most cases. Two viewings turned out to be a great idea, 'cause a lot of the first performance sort of washed over me while my brain tried to keep up.
On a related note, this was the first time I've seen a play written by someone I admire, as opposed to seeing a performance solely for the actor(s) who are in it. Knowing that the words and the story came from Scott's mind made the whole play take on a new resonance. Even when he wasn't on stage performing, he was still there in a way, if that makes any sense.
That said, the acting was fantastic and the cast is basically pitch perfect. Bre Blair and Val Lauren have great chemistry together, and my favorite scene is one with just the two of them outside of a drug store, where they bicker and flirt and fall for each other. :) And Melanie Griffith, my god, she is incredible. Her character has been a terrible mother and her lines are delivered with the perfect combination of sarcastic disdain and the inability to give a single fuck what anyone thinks. You're not supposed to like her for most of the play and yet you (or at least I) can't help but liking her. You can feel the tension on the stage during her scenes, it's almost palpable.
Then there's Jacob and Frank (Scott and Val) who spend the play bickering and having a cargument on a motorcycle (not even kidding) and joking about girls having all the feelings before having to deal with having all the feelings themselves (about those girls, as it happens). Midway through the second act Jacob has lost the ability to speak coherently and is curled up with a blanket over his head, thinking he's having a heart attack. BECAUSE OF FEELINGS. The subject matter is much, much deeper and more personal than, say, having character feels about The Avengers, but it was pretty damn funny watching someone act out some of the things we say on Twitter on a regular basis. XD
In the end though, the play had interesting and thought-provoking things to say about how important, or not, our past is and/or should be to us. About whether it's good or worthwhile to constantly question how you got to this specific point in your life, versus trying a way to exist in the moment you're in and trying not to repeat your mistakes and bad habits once you've recognized them for what they are while still being open to making said mistakes in the first place.
Jacob talks in the end about wanting to stop analyzing all the choices and circumstances that got him to where he is so he can "get out of his own way", and that resonated strongly with me given my life over the past year. Wanting to stop second-guessing your actions and wondering if you made the right decisions, and make the most of the life you find yourself in.
In summary, it's a good play and a very good production, and I'm so impressed with Scott's writing and acting abilities. It was worth every penny to get out there and see it, regardless of the rest of the weekend's shenanigans.
<3
Not sure whether I should warn for spoilers for a play (?), but there are a few light ones in here. If you're planning to see it and don't want to know anything you might want to stop here.
So the play! It's well-written and I sincerely hope it gets published, because the sheer amount of words it contains would be impressive to see in print. It was a lot of words you guys, all of which go by extremely quickly in most cases. Two viewings turned out to be a great idea, 'cause a lot of the first performance sort of washed over me while my brain tried to keep up.
On a related note, this was the first time I've seen a play written by someone I admire, as opposed to seeing a performance solely for the actor(s) who are in it. Knowing that the words and the story came from Scott's mind made the whole play take on a new resonance. Even when he wasn't on stage performing, he was still there in a way, if that makes any sense.
That said, the acting was fantastic and the cast is basically pitch perfect. Bre Blair and Val Lauren have great chemistry together, and my favorite scene is one with just the two of them outside of a drug store, where they bicker and flirt and fall for each other. :) And Melanie Griffith, my god, she is incredible. Her character has been a terrible mother and her lines are delivered with the perfect combination of sarcastic disdain and the inability to give a single fuck what anyone thinks. You're not supposed to like her for most of the play and yet you (or at least I) can't help but liking her. You can feel the tension on the stage during her scenes, it's almost palpable.
Then there's Jacob and Frank (Scott and Val) who spend the play bickering and having a cargument on a motorcycle (not even kidding) and joking about girls having all the feelings before having to deal with having all the feelings themselves (about those girls, as it happens). Midway through the second act Jacob has lost the ability to speak coherently and is curled up with a blanket over his head, thinking he's having a heart attack. BECAUSE OF FEELINGS. The subject matter is much, much deeper and more personal than, say, having character feels about The Avengers, but it was pretty damn funny watching someone act out some of the things we say on Twitter on a regular basis. XD
In the end though, the play had interesting and thought-provoking things to say about how important, or not, our past is and/or should be to us. About whether it's good or worthwhile to constantly question how you got to this specific point in your life, versus trying a way to exist in the moment you're in and trying not to repeat your mistakes and bad habits once you've recognized them for what they are while still being open to making said mistakes in the first place.
Jacob talks in the end about wanting to stop analyzing all the choices and circumstances that got him to where he is so he can "get out of his own way", and that resonated strongly with me given my life over the past year. Wanting to stop second-guessing your actions and wondering if you made the right decisions, and make the most of the life you find yourself in.
In summary, it's a good play and a very good production, and I'm so impressed with Scott's writing and acting abilities. It was worth every penny to get out there and see it, regardless of the rest of the weekend's shenanigans.
<3