More Life!

The Epilogue is perhaps the richest of all scenes in the entire two plays. It divides people with some believing the whole thing would be better left at the point of the final ‘real time’ scenes. (So Prior and Louis’ final exchange and Harper’s monologue).  And while there’s a case for that- nothing is left entirely resolved and open to interpretation- the Epilogue only gives us clues that the respective directors and actors can play with. There’s also an important theatrical point to be made with the style of the Epilogue as well- and all this combines to really change the sense of the ending. It’s a short (by Kushner standards) scene but also dialogue heavy. It is five years later- January 1990, and Prior, Louis, Belize and Hannah visit the Bethesda fountain. In the film version it is Prior’s Birthday (he reminds us Thomas Jefferson died on his Birthday, Belize reminds him he isn’t Thomas Jefferson) In the play version, there’s no scripted reason for them to assemb...

This picture continues to be the visual representation of Project Book. Me in two day old clothes raving at people who don't want to listen (you dear, reader mainly) Another 'research update' that's more about the state of things than the plays...having abandoned my former PhD blog this seems the place to dump such thoughts. The last couple of weeks have been hard. The ongoing job situation (or lack of one) and the bigger questions about what I'm doing and why continue to hang over me. A week or so ago someone told me (in not so many words) that I 'Might as well give up.' and that basically very few people 'make it' anyway and I'd probably be better off giving up. This was offset a couple of days later by someone else telling me, absolutely not to give up and that I had a talent for a lot of the things I'm trying to do. So which one to believe? I'm always inclined to quote not Kushner for a change but Pretty Woman 'The bad ...

And finally, after much ado, notes on Andrew Garfield as Prior... Garfield was the performer I saw evolve most across the run. Although some might critique this, thinking he should have been ‘set’ as Prior by opening night, it’s testament to an actor still working, still discovering. For an actor who has worked predominantly on film as well, it seems precisely the point of taking on a theatre role- to have something continuously evolving to work with. This also sums up his approach (as I observed it) as an actor who was ‘living’ or ‘experiencing’ the whole thing every night, and as a technique for Prior that’s hard, but something that can really pay off. His Prior grew as he as an actor grew into the role. That was, as Kushner might say realising a bit of theatrical magic happening right there. Emotionally played to the core, from up close an often-painful watch as he goes through not just the physical trials but faces Prior's emotional challenges (and a few angels). I...

Ah Louis. Ah James. Where to start? How do you start with an actor who essentially re-writes what it is to be the most difficult roles in the play? What I actually started with was a blog about how hard this was to write, and my personal relationship with Louis which is  here . Short version I love, and am a bit in love with this messed up jumper wearing mess of a man, and for me he's always been the heart of the play. In this version what James McArdle did was at once wonderful and heart stoppingly difficult to watch.  Louis for me then, is also the most important character in the play- he divides people. He’s a brave character for Kushner to write- he was Kushner’s response to the ‘assumption’ that people went from ‘disco bunnies to Florence Nightingale’, the idea that everyone is naturally able to care for sick loved ones, and that everyone copes. And for young men unused to caring responsibilities, that was often a big ask. Louis as written doesn’t ever act ou...