{"id":6957,"date":"2018-08-27T13:00:46","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T20:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6957"},"modified":"2018-08-27T06:09:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-27T13:09:36","slug":"mark-watches-slings-arrows-s01e01-olivers-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/08\/mark-watches-slings-arrows-s01e01-olivers-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Slings & Arrows’: S01E01 – Oliver’s Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first episode of the first season of Slings & Arrows<\/i>, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO READY FOR THIS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to start Slings & Arrows<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Trigger Warning: For discussion of alcoholism, depression, and mental illness<\/b><\/p>\n

Hello, friends! For a number of years, Slings & Arrows<\/i> has been recommended to me, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so pleased that I am finally getting a chance to tackle it. If you happen to be new to the Mark Watches experience\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI always get an influx of new readers when I start another project\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthen take a moment to review the following, as I do things a bit differently around here.<\/p>\n

1) Spoilers are not allowed in any form on Mark Watches<\/b>. Please refrain from ever posting (in normal text) any sort of spoiler or reference to future storylines or developments while commenting on this site. This rule is probably a lot more strict than you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re used to, so if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re warned about spoilers or if your comment is edited because of it, trust me. This is for a reason. Please visit the\u00c2\u00a0Spoiler Policy<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0for guidance.<\/p>\n

2) You may, however, post spoilers in rot13.\u00c2\u00a0<\/b>You will inevitably see what looks like gibberish in the comments. We use\u00c2\u00a0rot13<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0to cipher all possible spoilers so that y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all\u00c2\u00a0can<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0still have a conversation about each episode if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen the entire show. Please cipher all spoilers.<\/p>\n

3) Please read the Site Rules before commenting<\/b>. My group of moderators and I try to make Mark Watches an exception to the rule when it comes to online conversations. This means that moderation is more evident here than other places. Please review the rules<\/a>, as this is your only warning.<\/p>\n

4) Mark Watches videos are attached as a link at the end of the post.<\/b>\u00c2\u00a0They are $0.99 each, and you can download each video 15 times, meaning you can send them to friends or anyone else for free. The system is built to handle free downloads, so download away. The lovely folks over at Mark Spoils run a place called the\u00c2\u00a0Black Market<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0where you can find extra downloads of videos in case you cannot afford them or don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want to pay for them. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s totally sanctioned (and adored!) by me, so go ahead! Test them out. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basically me sitting and yelling at my TV, and I cry a lot because reasons.<\/p>\n

I came into this show only knowing two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Canadian.<\/li>\n
  2. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s about Shakespeare.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I do like admitting these things up front and then getting to discover that sometimes, knowing elements of a show doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really matter, because I AM FASCINATED BY THIS PILOT. Maybe it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m fresh off my second complete rewrite of novel #2 (ANNOUNCEMENT SOON, I PROMISE), but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spent so much time thinking about the structure of stories and how we, as creators, give information to an audience or to readers. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oliver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d has such a monumental task to achieve, and this pilot does so brilliantly<\/i>. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an experiment in contrasts, in opposite ends of the spectrum. It must convince the audience that all the protagonists in the present day are miserable<\/i>, show us how they were once happen, and link those two realities amidst a fairly hilarious indictment of the collision of art and capitalism. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot going on here, but Slings & Arrows<\/i> is not overly dense. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s realistically<\/i> dense, able to show us the complicated lives and problems that these people deal with while also knowing that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s okay to poke fun at it all.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I love that it this show starts with something that seems physically<\/i> low, since it plays with our expectations. Those opening images of the theater that Geoffrey rents\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwell, he hasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t paid in months, I should note\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare familiar to anyone who has had to work in the arts without<\/i> the sort of big-name sponsorship or support that we see later in the episode. I cannot even name all the punk\/underground venues that look exactly <\/i>like that theater: paint aged and peeling, questionable plumbing, unreliable electrical systems, and the beautiful, chaotic determination that comes from the stripped down intensity of art without a massive budget. Some of the best shows I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen in my life were in shitty retrofitted theaters. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking of the Allen Theater in South Gate, which I went to a million times, always certain the floor would cave in during those shows.) Some of the best productions I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve attended were outdoors. (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m super into Shakespeare in the Park, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all. I love the creativity that goes into putting on a play with those sort of constraints and<\/i> freedoms.) And without a working budget or the reliability of having a roof over their head, the people who operate out of that theater are lead by a man who bleeds<\/i> theater. I love that we get a glimpse of Geoffrey\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ability in that monologue, one that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not even in<\/i> Shakespeare, but just about the joy of Shakespeare itself.<\/p>\n

    This is then juxtaposed with the world of Oliver Welles and Ellen, of the popular New Burbage Festival, an annual celebration of Shakespeare that has the facilities, the budge, the actors, and yet? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not bad<\/i>, per se, but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly great? The show manages a wonderful thing here, since we only get to see a few minutes of the production of A Midsummer Night\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dream<\/i>. So, how do you craft a believable contrast? How do you show us a world that has everything Geoffrey is working without? Behind the scenes, we witness Oliver struggling with corporate sponsors, like Richard Smith-Jones, whose company funds so much of the festival, yet doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really care about the art at all. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a business<\/i>, not a creative outlet, and why can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t these silly actors just understand<\/i> that? There is drama around seating; ticket sales; gift shops; production values; and all of it contributes to a sense of chaos that manifests in a show that happens<\/i>. It is not award-winning; it is not challenging; it is so safe that one of the main theater critics flat-out tells Oliver that this is the case, couching his insult in a line that Oliver knows<\/i> is not really a compliment.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clear that the relationship between Ellen, Geoffrey, and Oliver is tantamount to this story, and Ellen operates such a fascinating, heartbreaking space within the narrative. Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an actress who is immensely talented who is also<\/i> being wasted within productions that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t highlight her skills and that also seem to actively work against her. At least that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how I read Oliver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s direction of Ellen. He couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even do the basic respect of staging her monologue so that it was facing the actual audience<\/i>. He knows that he has an actress capable of so much more, but he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t utilize her. Is it his misogyny? Yeah, most definitely. Does he believe that those in the industry\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m including him in this\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho are older don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t belong there? I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true, too. Thus, he acts out that terror on Ellen, denying her opportunities because he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see himself<\/i> as deserving of those opportunities, either.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speculation to a point because the show paints these brash, heartbreaking figures, then asks us to read between the lines. Which is perfectly fine; that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I found this pilot so intriguing and fascinating. Here are three people who, at one point years earlier, were at the top of their game. They believed they had tapped into the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153thing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that makes creating art so addictive and infectious, and y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, that is such a real<\/i> thing. I was writing as a kid and a teenager, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t until I was in bands and creating music in my 20s that I began to truly understand how it felt to hit that perfect spot, to make something that encapsulated your soul<\/i>. And now, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m discovering it again through fiction, and I know that there is such an immense pressure to succeed. That pressure comes from so many places, too. The audience. The industry. YOURSELF. Of course, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a huge piece of this puzzle that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re missing:<\/p>\n

    What happened all those years ago when Geoffrey had a breakdown?<\/p>\n

    It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s clearly not something the show is going to give us upfront, and I imagine the writers might actually withhold that single event for a while. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good choice in terms of storytelling because secrets\u00e2\u20ac\u201deither from the audience or between characters\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcan really fuel tension for a long time. Something<\/i> happened that night that tore them apart, and whatever it was, it was enough to set these three people against one another. Granted, Oliver and Ellen still work together, but it seems obvious that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re in each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lives not because they enjoy their company. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an antagonistic and<\/i> practical relationship. Where else can these people find this kind of work?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s all complicated further by Richard, and I found that his inclusion into this story had the most humorous element. But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still so real!!! Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, we live in a capitalistic society, and those of us who create art know that until we live in a world that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t bound by these, we struggle between this notion of producing work to satisfy our hearts and producing work to pay the bills. Richard is a slightly exaggerated version of the latter half, and his presence is mostly a thorn in the side of Oliver. Again, though, IT IS SO REAL. There are people like this EVERYWHERE. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how one of the contrasts in Slings & Arrows<\/i> is brought to life. Geoffrey rejects<\/i> people like Richard, while Oliver must accept that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re part of the deal. That creates problems for both parties. Geoffrey is dramatically evicted after failing to pay rent on his theater, which is a price he pays for refusing to sell out. (And I did appreciate that the landlord got a role in this to remind Geoffrey and the audience that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a bad person for wanting to get paid; it helps paint Geoffrey as a complicated character rather than defaulting to him being a heroic one.) Oliver, however, has to deny his desires, his sense of loyalty and dignity, and his creative spark because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, there are bills to pay. His productions are safe<\/i> because they need to make money. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think he explicitly thinks that on a day-to-day basis, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great example of his problem into this episode: he is pulled away from rehearsal to deal with corporate sponsor bullshit. How often does that happen? How frequently must he put himself at odds with his creative work? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his norm, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

    Still, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more to this pilot beyond this, and I love<\/i> that Kate exists as another contrast. She comes into this with some rose-colored glasses. She has so much hope<\/i>. She is new, excited, and is overjoyed that she finally got her foot in the door. This is deliberately contrasted with the sort of resentful anger that we get from Ellen, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s contrasted with the jaded cynicism of Oliver. I got the sense that the seams are starting to crack for Kate. She sees the bizarre reaction her high school drama teacher has over the world she is in. And now that she can see behind the curtain, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s realizing that the world of theater can be\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, not pretty. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m super curious where her character is going to be taken from here. Will she stay excited and hopeful? Will she ignore what she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s seeing and experiencing? I CAN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T WAIT.<\/p>\n

    Which brings me to that ending. I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Oliver is dead<\/i>, right? That actually happened??? Lord, what a bold<\/i> move for the very first episode, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not really sure if I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got this correct. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such a poetic tragedy in the parallel shots of Oliver, left behind by his friends, laying down in sadness and isolation. (It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also not lost on me that he was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153denied\u00e2\u20ac\u009d three times a row when he called Geoffrey. I CAUGHT THAT.) Is he really fucking gone??? WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS SHOW.<\/p>\n

    The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Oliver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Dream\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

    – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the first episode of the first season of Slings & Arrows, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122M SO READY FOR THIS. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to start Slings & Arrows.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[692],"tags":[693],"class_list":["post-6957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-slings-arrows","tag-mark-watches-slings-and-arrows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6957\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}