All My Sons
Oct. 9th, 2006 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lonelybritAh, so that was the weekend that was, and what a weekend :)
Things kicked off in suitable style with me and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
princess_s making good time to Liverpool, only to get lost for an hour in the winding, signless streets as we attempted to find our hotel and the patiently waiting eloise_bright. Highlights included almost going the wrong way down a dual carriage-way, and a taxi driver stopping in the middle of a road to move a cone and then have a conversation with another driver. Brilliant.
Anyway, we finally rolled into our hotel at 10.30pm. Ish. The room was small but clean, the bathroom was pint-sized but oddly cute.eloise_bright greeted us, and then she and princess_s promptly began what would turn into a weekend-long Supernatural squee. The first bottle of wine was cracked open not long after. The second at around 2am.
To be fair, by this point the topic of conversation was the size of Jared's hands and their suitability for spanking, and the joys of MPreg fics. Where frankly the fandom become irrelevant, especially when you're pissed. We all finally bedulated around 5.30am.
Around 2pm the same day, we finally exited the hotel and went in search of food. Needless to say the SN squee continued. I have to say I was impressed. We had yummy savoury breton pancakes and then spent the remaining hours looking like tourists as we attempted to track down the theatre. Notable achievements of this period included, of course, the spotting of Gary Barlow. For those who have no idea who he is, he was the lead singer of a boy band coughed up during the 80s. He was sitting in WHSmith, half-hidden by a sizable queue of young fans, apparently it was some kind of signing.
Anyway, mooching duly mooched, the hour of reckoning finally arrived, and we made our way back to the theatre. More specifically the stage door, where the fans were already gathering. Thus began the ritual eyeing of another fangroup across a few feet of cement, each trying to get a gauge of the other. After a little while, the first soul braved the gulf, and thus we met the lovelyalexis_fan and friend who, lucky things, had already seen Alexis and also done a webchat with him for the website (Everything Alexis). As the squee began to build, bcassie also joined the fray, assuring us that the play was awesome.
By which point it was barely half an hour to curtains, and hair of the dog was needed. We ambled away to find the theatre bar, comforting ourselves that maybe we would see Alexis afterwards. The sky was grey as we walked up the small road, chatting away about something that now escapes my mind when-
LB: *blinks* Look ahead.
Eloise: What?
LB: *clutches arm* Look. Ahead.
Alexis: *saunters past mere feet away, looking divine in greyish jacket and wearing The Glasses of Love.*
LB/Eloise/PS: ::mibble::
Alexis: *spots us staring and smiles*
Brains: *melt*
Automatic pilot: *engaged* Hi/Hello/Good luck with the show!
Alexis: Hi, how are you?
I think we just smiled rather goofishly, kept on walking since braking would have required coordination, and away he went to the stage door. Upon which we squee-ed as only fangirls can squee, at pitches which surely set the dolphins in the dock leaping. The squee continued over drinks, and we finally bounced our way down to our seats for the actual play.
Oh god, what a brilliant, brilliant play. Of course Alexis was wonderful, but actually I feel bad singling him out as all the cast were simply superb. Every single one had their moment, and played their role, and each helped towards the final meltdown.
The general premise is that of an apparently idyllic American family, recovering after WW2. The father, Joe, sits on the porch reading the newspaper, his neighbours treat his backyard like an extension of their own, coming over to chat, take a few parsley leaves. The gentle son, Chris, shows respect and love for his elders, the mother makes fresh grape juice for any visitors, etc etc. The only black spot seems to be the absence of the second son, who went missing in action.
And thus begins the unravelling. The mother is in denial about the son, refusing to acknowledge he isn't coming home, despite three years of no news. The father is director of a company that knowingly sold faulty plane parts during the war, resulting in 21 American pilots dying. He was exonorated, his partner found guilty and imprisoned, but it's clear the court case was not the end of the matter. When Chris announces he intends to marry Ann - daughter of the shamed partner - he starts the chain of events that eventually destroy both him and his parents. The first sign being his mother refusing to endorse the match - Ann used to be the fiance of the missing son.
It was just heartbreaking, watching everything slowly come to pieces, realising just how rotten the whole setup was. Right from Joe - who really did cause those pilots to die - through to the draft-dodging nextdoor neighbour. Even the whole concept of love is turned on its head. Joe supposedly did it all for love of his family, for love of his sons. Ann too emerges as a far more dark figure than first appeared, showing how smaller actions when done for love, can have effects just as devastating. She rejected her own father for it three years ago, sends away her brother in the present day, and finally - in a last ditch effort to get her engagement to Chris approved - drops the bombshell on Joe and his wife about the real reason their missing son Larry died. The mother as well is slightly terrifying, effectively losing all conscience when it comes to covering up whatever she has to in order to keep her family together.
And then there is Chris: "I mean you can take those things out of a war, but when you drive that car you've got to know that it came out of the love a man can have for a man, you've got to be a little better because of that. Otherwise what you have is really loot, and there's blood on it."
Oh Chris. He's the one who came back from the war, changed from having seen men fighting for each other, changed from losing all the men under his command. He's the idealist, the one who thinks war will have changed the world, the one who kids himself that he really does believe his father was innocent of causing those 21 deaths because otherwise how could he live with himself. His is the final fall from grace, you see the weight of the world settle on him when he realises, even after learning of his father's true guilt, that after all that he isn't the man he thought he was. He isn't a man who can send his own father to prison, despite knowing what he does. Hats off to Alexis for portraying this so very very well. At the beginning he is the goofball, a sweet lad in love who admits he has no imagination. In some ways he reminded me a bit of Wesley, all smiles and niaivity. Then there's the warning signs, his loyalty to his dead men, his mother's words that actualy he was quite the killer in the fields. By the closing scenes he barely says a word, but every movement, every gesture is painfully well done, you can feel just how much his soul has been crushed.
The scene where Chris and Joe face off about what Joe did was stunning. You see both men just shatter right before you. Joe showing that, yes, he suffers almost crippling guilt over what he did, only surviving because he truly believes that he did it for his family, his sons, and that family must come first. Chris is the first blow to that belief, the final one being the truth about Larry's death. Joe at last accepts that, yes, family does come first, his sons come first. But, what Larry and others believe, those 21 soldiers, all the young men in that war, they were all his sons. I'm not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes during that moment. Michael Byrne's accent became irrelevent, he just radiated power. Boy what a presence. When his voice broke so did your heart. One moment he was towering force on stage, furiously defending himself, and then the next the light goes out and he shrinks to just a broken old man.
*sigh* Just wonderful. If you ever get the chance to see it, do go.
The applause went on for quite a while, and we generally recovered, remembering happier scenes such as the beginning of Act 2, which had Alexis in a white vest top sawing off the top of a tree stump. Oh hello lovely flexing, toned arms and shoulders *swoon*
Anyway, then came the mad dash from our seats to the stage door. Yet again, we were not alone, a small crowd had gathered. It was lovely cross-section of geekdom. There were the English Lit folks, who had come for sheer love of the writing and the words. There were the boys in their beanies, who had come to shake hands with the cool dude from Indiana Jones. And then there were people like us, who saw Alexis and thought 'WESLEY!'
Michael Byrne was the first chap to emerge. He has such a serious aura about him that initially he almost escaped, and then some brave soul hopefully held up a programme. After that he was properly mobbed, his autograph taken and hand shaken and compliments duly showered down. He thanked us all very politely, saying he liked the play because it still has such particular relevance today, and mistakingeloise_bright for Scottish.
A few minutes later, Alexis emerged.
Oh that man is so pretty. I mean, dude, really, no words. The smile and the voice and the eyes and the smile and oh he is also so lovely! Such a sweetheart. Feeling dutifully British and guilty for daring to take up his free time, I apologised for bothering him and asked if it would be alright if he signed by programme. Upon which he simply said 'Of course', took it from me and then asked if I'd like it personalised. *melts* While he was writing, I asked him if he was hanging around in the UK or heading straight back to the States.
Alexis: Heading straight back to the States - I miss my wife *heartmelting smile*
LB: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
After which I floated off, to return to Earth to discover the others had also got their programmes signed, and that someone else had just asked for a photo with Alexis, and had their request granted. There was a frantic whispered emergency conference over whether or not it would be good form to go back to Alexis for a second time, just to ask for a pic.
Eloise: I'd like one but... *gestures crowd* He's busy.
LB: We can't, it'd be rude.
PS: I'll hold the camera if you want.
Eloise & LB: OK! *dart off*
We did get the picture. I can't remember much because, oddly enough, memory goes slightly fuzzy when Alexis puts his arm around you and his hip's pressing warm against your side. I have a sneaking suspicion the pic is an exact copy of the one from Collectormania - complete with inane slightly-dazed looking grins. Alexis - bless his wee heart - even asked if we'd like a second one because he wasn't sure the first came out alright. Oh how do I love this man :)princess_s also got her pic taken, after which, we thanked him nicely before bouncing our way into the night. Once back at the hotel we squeed some more, eloise_bright and princess_s discovered that the bar only served doubles (damn), and then returned to their previous activities of uninterrupted SPN squee *shakes head* Though to be fair, by the time we bedulated at 2am, at least 20% of the squee was centred around Alexis. I also got my own back by being put in charge of the music during the three hour drive home. Guess which band got played the most...
In short. All My Sons: brilliant, amazing, wonderful, heartbreaking, etc. *sniffle*
Alexis:God. Pretty. Absurdly talented. SHOULD BE OVER HERE DAMMIT. Absolute sweetheart.
Supernatural: Has its moments.
Franz Ferdinand: Still pwn SPN, so there :)
Things kicked off in suitable style with me and
princess_s making good time to Liverpool, only to get lost for an hour in the winding, signless streets as we attempted to find our hotel and the patiently waiting eloise_bright. Highlights included almost going the wrong way down a dual carriage-way, and a taxi driver stopping in the middle of a road to move a cone and then have a conversation with another driver. Brilliant.Anyway, we finally rolled into our hotel at 10.30pm. Ish. The room was small but clean, the bathroom was pint-sized but oddly cute.
eloise_bright greeted us, and then she and princess_s promptly began what would turn into a weekend-long Supernatural squee. The first bottle of wine was cracked open not long after. The second at around 2am. To be fair, by this point the topic of conversation was the size of Jared's hands and their suitability for spanking, and the joys of MPreg fics. Where frankly the fandom become irrelevant, especially when you're pissed. We all finally bedulated around 5.30am.
Around 2pm the same day, we finally exited the hotel and went in search of food. Needless to say the SN squee continued. I have to say I was impressed. We had yummy savoury breton pancakes and then spent the remaining hours looking like tourists as we attempted to track down the theatre. Notable achievements of this period included, of course, the spotting of Gary Barlow. For those who have no idea who he is, he was the lead singer of a boy band coughed up during the 80s. He was sitting in WHSmith, half-hidden by a sizable queue of young fans, apparently it was some kind of signing.
Anyway, mooching duly mooched, the hour of reckoning finally arrived, and we made our way back to the theatre. More specifically the stage door, where the fans were already gathering. Thus began the ritual eyeing of another fangroup across a few feet of cement, each trying to get a gauge of the other. After a little while, the first soul braved the gulf, and thus we met the lovely
alexis_fan and friend who, lucky things, had already seen Alexis and also done a webchat with him for the website (Everything Alexis). As the squee began to build, bcassie also joined the fray, assuring us that the play was awesome.By which point it was barely half an hour to curtains, and hair of the dog was needed. We ambled away to find the theatre bar, comforting ourselves that maybe we would see Alexis afterwards. The sky was grey as we walked up the small road, chatting away about something that now escapes my mind when-
LB: *blinks* Look ahead.
Eloise: What?
LB: *clutches arm* Look. Ahead.
Alexis: *saunters past mere feet away, looking divine in greyish jacket and wearing The Glasses of Love.*
LB/Eloise/PS: ::mibble::
Alexis: *spots us staring and smiles*
Brains: *melt*
Automatic pilot: *engaged* Hi/Hello/Good luck with the show!
Alexis: Hi, how are you?
I think we just smiled rather goofishly, kept on walking since braking would have required coordination, and away he went to the stage door. Upon which we squee-ed as only fangirls can squee, at pitches which surely set the dolphins in the dock leaping. The squee continued over drinks, and we finally bounced our way down to our seats for the actual play.
Oh god, what a brilliant, brilliant play. Of course Alexis was wonderful, but actually I feel bad singling him out as all the cast were simply superb. Every single one had their moment, and played their role, and each helped towards the final meltdown.
The general premise is that of an apparently idyllic American family, recovering after WW2. The father, Joe, sits on the porch reading the newspaper, his neighbours treat his backyard like an extension of their own, coming over to chat, take a few parsley leaves. The gentle son, Chris, shows respect and love for his elders, the mother makes fresh grape juice for any visitors, etc etc. The only black spot seems to be the absence of the second son, who went missing in action.
And thus begins the unravelling. The mother is in denial about the son, refusing to acknowledge he isn't coming home, despite three years of no news. The father is director of a company that knowingly sold faulty plane parts during the war, resulting in 21 American pilots dying. He was exonorated, his partner found guilty and imprisoned, but it's clear the court case was not the end of the matter. When Chris announces he intends to marry Ann - daughter of the shamed partner - he starts the chain of events that eventually destroy both him and his parents. The first sign being his mother refusing to endorse the match - Ann used to be the fiance of the missing son.
It was just heartbreaking, watching everything slowly come to pieces, realising just how rotten the whole setup was. Right from Joe - who really did cause those pilots to die - through to the draft-dodging nextdoor neighbour. Even the whole concept of love is turned on its head. Joe supposedly did it all for love of his family, for love of his sons. Ann too emerges as a far more dark figure than first appeared, showing how smaller actions when done for love, can have effects just as devastating. She rejected her own father for it three years ago, sends away her brother in the present day, and finally - in a last ditch effort to get her engagement to Chris approved - drops the bombshell on Joe and his wife about the real reason their missing son Larry died. The mother as well is slightly terrifying, effectively losing all conscience when it comes to covering up whatever she has to in order to keep her family together.
And then there is Chris: "I mean you can take those things out of a war, but when you drive that car you've got to know that it came out of the love a man can have for a man, you've got to be a little better because of that. Otherwise what you have is really loot, and there's blood on it."
Oh Chris. He's the one who came back from the war, changed from having seen men fighting for each other, changed from losing all the men under his command. He's the idealist, the one who thinks war will have changed the world, the one who kids himself that he really does believe his father was innocent of causing those 21 deaths because otherwise how could he live with himself. His is the final fall from grace, you see the weight of the world settle on him when he realises, even after learning of his father's true guilt, that after all that he isn't the man he thought he was. He isn't a man who can send his own father to prison, despite knowing what he does. Hats off to Alexis for portraying this so very very well. At the beginning he is the goofball, a sweet lad in love who admits he has no imagination. In some ways he reminded me a bit of Wesley, all smiles and niaivity. Then there's the warning signs, his loyalty to his dead men, his mother's words that actualy he was quite the killer in the fields. By the closing scenes he barely says a word, but every movement, every gesture is painfully well done, you can feel just how much his soul has been crushed.
The scene where Chris and Joe face off about what Joe did was stunning. You see both men just shatter right before you. Joe showing that, yes, he suffers almost crippling guilt over what he did, only surviving because he truly believes that he did it for his family, his sons, and that family must come first. Chris is the first blow to that belief, the final one being the truth about Larry's death. Joe at last accepts that, yes, family does come first, his sons come first. But, what Larry and others believe, those 21 soldiers, all the young men in that war, they were all his sons. I'm not ashamed to say I had tears in my eyes during that moment. Michael Byrne's accent became irrelevent, he just radiated power. Boy what a presence. When his voice broke so did your heart. One moment he was towering force on stage, furiously defending himself, and then the next the light goes out and he shrinks to just a broken old man.
*sigh* Just wonderful. If you ever get the chance to see it, do go.
The applause went on for quite a while, and we generally recovered, remembering happier scenes such as the beginning of Act 2, which had Alexis in a white vest top sawing off the top of a tree stump. Oh hello lovely flexing, toned arms and shoulders *swoon*
Anyway, then came the mad dash from our seats to the stage door. Yet again, we were not alone, a small crowd had gathered. It was lovely cross-section of geekdom. There were the English Lit folks, who had come for sheer love of the writing and the words. There were the boys in their beanies, who had come to shake hands with the cool dude from Indiana Jones. And then there were people like us, who saw Alexis and thought 'WESLEY!'
Michael Byrne was the first chap to emerge. He has such a serious aura about him that initially he almost escaped, and then some brave soul hopefully held up a programme. After that he was properly mobbed, his autograph taken and hand shaken and compliments duly showered down. He thanked us all very politely, saying he liked the play because it still has such particular relevance today, and mistaking
eloise_bright for Scottish.A few minutes later, Alexis emerged.
Oh that man is so pretty. I mean, dude, really, no words. The smile and the voice and the eyes and the smile and oh he is also so lovely! Such a sweetheart. Feeling dutifully British and guilty for daring to take up his free time, I apologised for bothering him and asked if it would be alright if he signed by programme. Upon which he simply said 'Of course', took it from me and then asked if I'd like it personalised. *melts* While he was writing, I asked him if he was hanging around in the UK or heading straight back to the States.
Alexis: Heading straight back to the States - I miss my wife *heartmelting smile*
LB: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
After which I floated off, to return to Earth to discover the others had also got their programmes signed, and that someone else had just asked for a photo with Alexis, and had their request granted. There was a frantic whispered emergency conference over whether or not it would be good form to go back to Alexis for a second time, just to ask for a pic.
Eloise: I'd like one but... *gestures crowd* He's busy.
LB: We can't, it'd be rude.
PS: I'll hold the camera if you want.
Eloise & LB: OK! *dart off*
We did get the picture. I can't remember much because, oddly enough, memory goes slightly fuzzy when Alexis puts his arm around you and his hip's pressing warm against your side. I have a sneaking suspicion the pic is an exact copy of the one from Collectormania - complete with inane slightly-dazed looking grins. Alexis - bless his wee heart - even asked if we'd like a second one because he wasn't sure the first came out alright. Oh how do I love this man :)
princess_s also got her pic taken, after which, we thanked him nicely before bouncing our way into the night. Once back at the hotel we squeed some more, eloise_bright and princess_s discovered that the bar only served doubles (damn), and then returned to their previous activities of uninterrupted SPN squee *shakes head* Though to be fair, by the time we bedulated at 2am, at least 20% of the squee was centred around Alexis. I also got my own back by being put in charge of the music during the three hour drive home. Guess which band got played the most...In short. All My Sons: brilliant, amazing, wonderful, heartbreaking, etc. *sniffle*
Alexis:
Supernatural: Has its moments.
Franz Ferdinand: Still pwn SPN, so there :)
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 12:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 12:46 am (UTC)That must've been wonderful, and I'd have squeed, too.
AMS is a play I know very well for the usual reason; we did it at school. That tends to drive it into your skull for ever. I also loved it, which helped; my friend and I went to see it as the Vic in Newcastle -u-Lyme some years later and were in floods at the end.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:08 am (UTC)And yes we saw him again! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!! :) He is a true gentleman, I'm hoping he'll come back to the UK soon!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 12:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 01:04 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 02:34 am (UTC)While I like SPN well enough, I'm right there with you, shaking my head. And how dare anyone mistake EB for Scottish. For shame!
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-14 12:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 04:35 pm (UTC)And
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:29 am (UTC)I know, I was surprised myself as I'm not sure this new fandom interest of hers had quite registered... ;)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-10 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 09:32 am (UTC)Nope, I've still got another 20+ pictures to take before I finish the film. When that's done though, fret not, I will make sure you and EB get your copies :)
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 10:08 am (UTC)It was good, wasn't it - and Alexis - soo, soo lovely! Thanks for writing this up.
no subject
Date: 2006-10-11 10:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 12:49 pm (UTC)Great report.
See you soon
Monica
no subject
Date: 2006-10-12 01:11 pm (UTC)FANTASTICO!!!
Kiss
Monica
no subject
Date: 2006-10-13 12:08 am (UTC)