Slings and Arrows: Oliver's Dream   First Watch 
August 3, 2014 3:54 PM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe

A show opens; a show doesn't open; the past is revisited; the future is changed.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering (25 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
One of the things I watched in preparation is David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered on Hamlet. It's on prime right now free (if you have prime, of course).
posted by winna at 5:12 PM on August 3, 2014 [5 favorites]


I just finished watching and I have to say, really good opening episode. I'm actually finding it quite difficult not to just binge watch all of season one. I would have gone to see Geoffrey's play. It looked potentially kick-ass and I appreciated the contrast with the beautiful, but soulless production of "The Dream." Although, of course, nothing is ever that simple, but I liked that I could get the feel of the production of Midsummer and ooh and ahh over the costuming and get the feel of the play without just being told.

I also loved the phone calls between Geoffrey and Oliver. I wasn't surprised when Oliver passed away because of the foreshadowing, but I was a bit sorry that it happened so quickly, I think I get why, but I was really enjoying the dynamics of, well, everyone, with Oliver. Then again, as you say, this is referencing Hamlet, so perhaps my dismay is premature!
posted by dawg-proud at 9:33 PM on August 3, 2014 [1 favorite]


Hey, great episode. I more-or-less just found out about this show from this post, so hooray for FanFare.

I am personally very tired of Shakespeare, but apparently I can watch the hell out of a show about Shakespeare productions.
posted by isthmus at 9:47 PM on August 3, 2014


Great series. I'm so happy to have an excuse to watch it all again.

If I took a drink every time Ellen said "sorry", I'd be in bad shape by the end. Even if it was the local wine. Probably especially if it was the local wine.

The AVClup Recap posted above says 'Also, now that you’ve watched one episode of this show, you’ll be pronouncing “sorry” in her thickly Canadian fashion until the end of time.' It's really true - my partner and I watched the series years ago and still pronounce sorry that way.

Sorry.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 5:56 AM on August 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


* Ellen's "Sorry for caring" is the absolute epitome of Canadian passive-aggression. I love it. And it's a genuine tension: is she being a drama queen? Maybe? But she's right! And neither one erases the other.

* There's an obvious contrast between the shoestring Theatre Sans Argent and the relatively opulent Swan Theatre, and Geoffrey's genuine passion for the beginning of The Tempest and how much has become routine and passionless for Oliver, but I like that it's not entirely as simple as that; you do have to keep the lights on, and you can't run a theater festival just on passion. And Oliver is somebody who genuinely cares about theater, who realizes that "there's not one moment of truth in this whole production." Both of them care about creative work, but neither of them has the power and skill and resources to make it happen.

* What I noticed rereading Hamlet: In Hamlet, we get a good long time introducing Denmark as a place that's in deep trouble and Hamlet as a person who's spectacularly unsuited to be solving those problems, even before Hamlet encounters his father's ghost. And it initially seemed odd to me that we get a whole episode -- a sixth of the season! -- before Geoffrey comes to New Burbage, but in that context I can appreciate just how much setup it takes so that you get that great sinking feeling of "Oh, this is not going to go well."

* I love Oliver's phone calls to Geoffrey, how he wants so badly to reach out and yet can't stop himself from being terribly cruel. I feel so sorry for him and yet there's no question that it's his own fault that he's miserable.

* The reason I've rewatched Slings & Arrows a couple times is that it's so true to both all the awful minutiae of creative work and how spectacular it can be when it's working. A whole episode of terrible failure bookended by the high of Geoffrey directing The Tempest, and the (complicated) post-Hamlet high -- it's a show that keeps asking "Is it worth putting up with all this crap?" and keeps answering "Oh, it's so worth it."
posted by Jeanne at 6:27 AM on August 4, 2014 [5 favorites]


There's an obvious contrast between the shoestring Theatre Sans Argent and the relatively opulent Swan Theatre, and Geoffrey's genuine passion for the beginning of The Tempest and how much has become routine and passionless for Oliver, but I like that it's not entirely as simple as that; you do have to keep the lights on, and you can't run a theater festival just on passion.

I agree. I also like the contrast between the Theatre's expectation that the audience work a little and use their imaginations to see the storm as Miranda sees it and Oliver's complaint about the bleats - it underscores the idea that in a sense the New Burbage festival is moving away from a model in which the audience is part of the show (by working to engage with it) and toward one in which the audience is merely observing spectacle.

But it's also true that the Theatre is not solvent and that Geoffrey is not concerned with the ongoing survival of the place in a business sense - it's a complicated balance.

I love Anna and Maria as well - they are such fascinating characters and we only get tiny peeks at their interior world.

One of the things I thought was significant on rewatch is that Geoffrey is putting on the Tempest - a story about a man who takes revenge but eventually forgives the men that injured him, and that the speech that Ellen is concerned about is the forgeries of jealousy speech from a play about misunderstandings between people who care for each other and how their disagreements disrupt the world.
These are the forgeries of jealousy:
And never, since the middle summer's spring,
Met we on hill, in dale, forest or mead,
By paved fountain or by rushy brook,
Or in the beached margent of the sea,
To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind,
But with thy brawls thou hast disturb'd our sport.
Therefore the winds, piping to us in vain,
As in revenge, have suck'd up from the sea
Contagious fogs; which falling in the land
Have every pelting river made so proud
That they have overborne their continents:
The ox hath therefore stretch'd his yoke in vain,
The ploughman lost his sweat, and the green corn
Hath rotted ere his youth attain'd a beard;
The fold stands empty in the drowned field,
And crows are fatted with the murrion flock;
posted by winna at 7:00 AM on August 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


Geoffrey's genuine passion for the beginning of The Tempest and how much has become routine and passionless for Oliver

You know, ever since I first watched this show, I've waffled on what's actually happening with Oliver. Have things really become routine and passionless? Or has he experienced the worst fate for a creative person: running out of ideas? Does he have the directorial version of (permanent?) writer's block? Or is he simply past his prime?

I've never really been able to decide. But I think his words to Geoffrey on the phone probably clue us in a lot: "Everything I ever do will be compared to those three performances," contrasted earlier at the cast party when he's talking about why so many of the greats are/were drunks; "How can you possibly handle the real world after achieving perfection on the stage?"

it's a show that keeps asking "Is it worth putting up with all this crap?" and keeps answering "Oh, it's so worth it."

Well, we're treating this as a First Watch, so I don't want to get all spoilery... but I really want to talk about that when we reach the end of the series.

is she being a drama queen? Maybe? But she's right!

I dunno, I've always seen that little sequence as mirroring her passion with Geoffrey's, but contrasting her position of relative power and security with his lack thereof.

I liked that I could get the feel of the production of Midsummer and ooh and ahh over the costuming and get the feel of the play without just being told.

Oh yes. So much yes. Glitter and beautiful hair and costumes against Geoffrey's bare stage and exploding parcans Tempest. One production is all style, the other is all substance.

Maria is every stage manager I have ever met. Cue the fucking bleats.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 7:06 AM on August 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


You know, ever since I first watched this show, I've waffled on what's actually happening with Oliver. Have things really become routine and passionless? Or has he experienced the worst fate for a creative person: running out of ideas? Does he have the directorial version of (permanent?) writer's block? Or is he simply past his prime?

I've always wondered about that too. I don't know much about professional theater because all my experience was college and high school, but I always thought part of it is that Richard doesn't seem to be very good at his job so Oliver gets co-opted into things that to my mind (though I may be wrong) are outside the purview of an artistic director.

In this episode, for example, he is dragged out of rehearsal (albeit one not going very well) to discuss seating charts. Is that an appropriate use of his time - I would argue not? And then too he's having to make decisions about wine selections. Why is that something that devolves on him - wouldn't that be something Anna should be empowered to do?

It seems like Richard's inability to be decisive (see the scene at LensTrek) means that many of the responsibilities that he should be managing are bleeding out into other areas and affecting the creative process which is, despite the requirement that the company remain solvent, the actual reason for the festival.
posted by winna at 8:01 AM on August 4, 2014


IT'S COSMOPOLITAN LENSTREX NOW. Ahem.

Artistic Directors, in my experience, are the top of the pyramid in theatres, whether officially or no. Richard's just there to manage day to day operations and secure funding; everything else comes under Oliver's purview, formally or informally. Plus, ADs are notorious for being micromanaging/detail-oriented.

As for the seating specifically, there's a lot of politicking going on at such things (see the discussion about longstanding Festival actors who didn't have any parts in the current season, for example), which might well be something more suited to Oliver's temperament--and knowledge of the ins and outs--than Richard's.

Richard not being very good at his job is something I hadn't thought about before. But can't get into because, again, spoilers.

Besides, who wants to drink chilled German urine?

don't answer that
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:11 AM on August 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


I kind of saw Oliver as being

a) troubled/lonely enough in his personal life that his art can't get nourished that way -- in a lot of ways I think being good at what you do creatively depends on having some baseline of emotional security in the rest of your life. You can make great art out of deep pain, but not (I think) when deep pain is all you have to come back to, and certainly not when you get so hung up on needing validation with your art that you stop taking risks. I don't know that we see enough of Oliver to say so for sure, but that Hamlet flashback at the end certainly points in that direction.

b) something like I was in jobs I've had in the past -- where I tried hard, but saw myself failing, and didn't know why I kept failing, and eventually it was easier to just go through the motions and do the baseline minimum than to keep putting my heart on the line for nothing. And when you're in a position where you can get some critical and commercial appreciation even if you're not taking genuine risks -- it's very easy to stay there, I think, even while wishing that you could be better than that.
posted by Jeanne at 8:18 AM on August 4, 2014


certainly not when you get so hung up on needing validation with your art that you stop taking risks

Which is another interesting contrast to Geoffrey. Validation seems not just unimportant to him, but irrelevant.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:29 AM on August 4, 2014


Artistic Directors, in my experience, are the top of the pyramid in theatres, whether officially or no. Richard's just there to manage day to day operations and secure funding; everything else comes under Oliver's purview, formally or informally. Plus, ADs are notorious for being micromanaging/detail-oriented.

Ah that makes sense in context. I'd still argue that Richard is completely incapable of choosing the appropriate time to ask his questions, but the fact that ADs are supposed to be all over everything paints an even stronger picture of Oliver as a disengaged, unhappy man going through the motions.

Poor Oliver.

Which is another interesting contrast to Geoffrey. Validation seems not just unimportant to him, but irrelevant.

I agree. Oliver is devastated by the personal assessment of the two speakers in the restroom after the show, while Geoffrey seems merely amused by the fact that everyone thinks he's insane and washed up.
posted by winna at 8:40 AM on August 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


IT'S COSMOPOLITAN LENSTREX NOW. Ahem.

So scary!

I used to work for a woman just like her. I still bear the psychic scars.
posted by winna at 8:42 AM on August 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oliver is devastated by the personal assessment of the two speakers in the restroom after the show, while Geoffrey seems merely amused by the fact that everyone thinks he's insane and washed up.

Oh yes. Oliver needs validation and makes art for other people. Geoffrey needs none and makes it for himself; other people appreciating it is a fringe benefit for him, I think.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 9:11 AM on August 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Don't have much to say yet, but wanted to chime in that I really enjoyed the first episode. I came into this with just the barest knowledge about the series - that it was highly recommended and had to do with theater, specifically Shakespeare. I'm looking forward to future episodes now that the major players have been introduced.
posted by Falconetti at 11:26 AM on August 4, 2014


Geoffrey needs none and makes it for himself; other people appreciating it is a fringe benefit for him, I think.

For himself, and for the sake of art itself.

Oliver used to be like this, used to care about the art.

Ellen is about the art, and the audience, and the pretty young things, and saying sorry as often and as passive-aggressively as possible: she's a great actress; she could make it sound more believable!
posted by RainyJay at 11:45 AM on August 4, 2014


saying sorry as often and as passive-aggressively as possible: she's a great actress; she could make it sound more believable!

Who says she wants you to believe her sincerity at being sorry? She's a grande dame, for fuck's sake, she doesn't have to MEAN it!
posted by jenfullmoon at 2:33 PM on August 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


That's one of the things I really love about Ellen; she's a full-on Diva with a capital D.

But she's actually earned that role, and earns it again every time she's onstage.

(Probs doesn't hurt that Martha Burns is just amazingsauce.)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 4:07 PM on August 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


She's a grande dame, for fuck's sake, she doesn't have to MEAN it!

Exactly: she knows she could sell it, she just doesn't want to.
posted by RainyJay at 4:10 PM on August 4, 2014


And that's something about Burns' performance that's so good; Ellen is a consummate actress, a born performer. And in almost every scene starting from her first one, you can just about see that moment when the character decides which role or mask she's going to put on for that moment.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 5:23 PM on August 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


I enjoyed the first episode, more so, perhaps, because I was in Stratford, ON earlier this summer to see some plays, and I gather that the Burbage Festival is a parody of Stratford (only all Shakespeare, all the time). Was it filmed in Stratford, at least in part? Those streets look kind of familiar. I don't have much to comment yet beyond that, but I'm interested in how leisurely the pacing is for a fairly short season.
posted by GenjiandProust at 9:49 AM on August 5, 2014


Look how obediently the audience attends and applauds the Burbage production, cowed by its cultural capital. The Producers was right, the audience will put up with anything.

I like how this show depicts the different Shakespearean parts one gets as one progresses through a career. Men begin as Hamlet and end as Lear. Ellen is at a delicate Titania phase, teetering over to Gertrude or worse, The Nurse. (Although she is so right to play Cleopatra.)

Claire totally killed that Puck epilogue.


When I say "totally killed" I mean not in a good way.
posted by BAKERSFIELD! at 11:24 AM on August 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


One of the things I watched in preparation is David Tennant's episode of Shakespeare Uncovered on Hamlet.

A little bird tells me there's a second season of that coming out soon ...
posted by Sonny Jim at 11:34 AM on August 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


New Burbage is closer to a loving homage. Almost every single person involved in either writing or acting or both on the show has been on the stages of Stratford at least once--many, many times in some cases. So, yeah, a lot of them (especially Susan Coyne/Anna, who co-wrote) are drawing on actual Stratfordian experiences. Though they have said in an interview that stuff had to be dropped out, because no way would civilians believe how weird theatre people can really get.

I don't know, offhand, where the majority of outdoor scenes were shot. Guelph maybe?
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 12:36 PM on August 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


Forgot how great this show is - totally character driven, and what great characters!
posted by entropyiswinning at 1:51 PM on August 10, 2014


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