#I checked our mics and the soliloquy I used was actually to be or not to be
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We all know I shouldn’t be allowed to make Tumblr posts after 1 AM, but here we go again… This has been in my brain for so long so now I am going to ramble about it (shoutout to the Hamlet Discord server for joining in the Thinking)
Surveillance Hamlet!!!
(Or, rather, the theme of surveillance in Hamlet and some fun and exciting ways I’d like to see it portrayed on stage assuming this mythical theater program has unlimited money)
(Warning- this thought is undercooked. This is going to get rambly…)
Surveillance is a major theme in Hamlet. Nearly everyone in the play engages in some kind of spying or scheming or is the victim thereof (or both). I love plays as a medium for the fact that each individual performance has the opportunity to completely change which themes get the most emphasis and surveillance is a theme I’d love to see take center stage with Hamlet specifically!
Hamlet is a pretty meta play. It ends with a message on the act of storytelling within the specific context of the story the audience has just watched just after it calls out the “mutes and audience” to the ultimate tragedy for their inaction during the runtime of the play. It’s also been performed and adapted plenty of times with a modern lens. Grief, depression, existential anxiety, and gay people are, apparently, universal pieces of the human experience, but if anything looms larger than ever over today’s society, it’s surveillance. Hell, I’m typing this on a device that is for sure selling my data to the government and probably also scam artists! So give me a performance where extreme surveillance heightens all the other aspects of the play, where Hamlet’s paranoia is exceedingly justified.
First, choose a good venue. Outdoor theater is almost always my favorite, but in this case, choose a massive indoor theater with a movie theater style sound system. Hang massive screens above the stage like you’d see at a big concert.
Now, these actors are going to be doing some major method acting. Put cameras above the stage at all angles. Put cameras in the wings. Put cameras on the crew. Put cameras in the audience- maybe some employee plants instructed to stream the show to the screens from their view or even to obnoxiously take photos and video throughout the show. No matter where these actors go, so long as they’re in character, there’s a camera on them. Put mics everywhere too, so even low whispers are heard from the backrow.
I want this play to start with an attempt at secrecy. The ghost appears, Hamlet begs his friends not to speak of it, but he can hear his whispers echoing right back to him and he knows it’s useless. The curiously missing line where Marcellus, Horatio, and Barnardo do finally swear upon Hamlet’s sword isn’t implied to be there as usual. It doesn’t exist. The ghost is only “satiated” by the coming of dawn, even this first, simple wish remains unfulfilled.
Hamlet spends the end of act 1 wavering between a genuine breakdown and an acted portrayal of madness. Pretending shields him from showing legitimate emotion on those screens.
To be or not to be is performed offstage, but on camera. Hamlet seems to think for a moment that he’s truly alone or perhaps it’s all part of the facade. Either way, emotion gets the best of him eventually and he realizes he can’t escape the cameras (or mortality). He comes on stage for get thee to a nunnery, frantically trying to get away from his ever-echoing voice, only to find a spotlight on him. The lines come across as cruel as they are pathetic. Ophelia is also being watched. Ophelia didn’t decide alone to speak to him. In some ways, she has far less privacy than he does, but Hamlet isn’t looking for solidarity in the watched. He wants to be alone. He wants to not be seen.
When he stabs Polonius, Ros & Guil track him down on the cameras. There’s no need to run, but he tries.
The only time Hamlet is truly outside of surveillance is on the ship to England (and then with the sailors who return him to Denmark). Maybe Claudius doesn’t want the world to know he has sent the prince to be executed, but it is clear that he too has lost any real control of this surveillance system. You saw him praying. Or was it a publicity stunt? Hamlet returns and simply tells Horatio (and by proxy, you) what happened on the ship, maybe resentfully. The only time he gets privacy, he doesn’t need it.
By the final scene, he no longer wants not to be seen. He isn’t sure you see him at all. No, you mutes and audience look right through him as if you know infinitely more than him, as if he hasn’t proven that he knows he is a sparrow that will fall. But you know the lines and he doesn’t.
He asks Horatio to tell his story. Maybe there’s something personal about being told a story rather than watching one play out. Maybe you can’t look through a storyteller.
Hamlet canonically knows he’s being watched. He uncovers Ros & Guil’s spy mission in the span of minutes, kills Polonius in the act of spying on him, and comes to mistrust the people around him because almost no one seems to be genuine with him (besides horatio). But it’s not just the characters, it’s the audience. In his darkest moments, he looks out for just a second, almost begging for help, only to discover that no one is coming to his aid. When he tries to exit, the spotlight follows him and so do the cameras. It’s inescapable. When he delivers the “mutes and audience” line, it should be as accusatory as it is pleading. You, the audience, have seen his life projected on massive screens, you’ve heard his every word and whisper, you know him, don’t you? Yes, you know him better than his closest friends. He’s spilled his soul to you because he knows you can’t be escaped, that you, rows upon rows of darkness to this actor blinded by spotlights, are always watching. Will you help? he asks, one final time. The answer is an obvious no, not because you’re heartless but because that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to see a play.
#hamlet#shakespeare#SURVEILLANCE HAMLET!!!#what does this mean? you tell me#I’ve been in one stage play ever#and what I remember most is the lights#they’re so bright that the audience becomes a mass of darkness#like that super black paint. it’s like the lights are sucking up all the light and leaving you to act in front of no one at all#I was also an audio technician for a musical#I checked our mics and the soliloquy I used was actually to be or not to be#there was something very different about hearing that raw emotion echo right back at me#anyway#maybe we’re the metaphorical government spying on our phones right now or maybe we’re death or just the general unknown#or maybe not#I came up with bits and pieces of this and never reached any conclusions on what it would actually mean if I did the play like this#the budget version is asking the audience to bring binoculars#that’s all I’ve got#can you tell I watched the Jacob Geller infinity video?
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WCW Monday Nitro 26/08/1996
Note: It’s been over a year since I posted anything new, but this is still an active Tumblr so here’s something for the handful of people who I suddenly noticed are following this! Also RIP Mean Gene Okerlund. I may rag on him a lot in these retrospectives but he was a legend and will be missed. Onto the final WCW Nitro of August 1996.
So, this is curious. We start off with the usual intro, then as the fireworks are going off and Tony and Larry Z are welcoming us to the broadcast... there are already two people in the ring. We’re in a rush tonight, clearly.
Our combatants for the first bout of the evening are Juventud Guerrera and Billy Kidman. This is in fact Juvi’s debut on WCW Nitro. Hopefully he gets better treatment than poor Psychosis.
Juventud Guerrera Vs Billy Kidman
We’re not even a minute into the match and Tony manages to call our debutant “Juventud Guerrero”. That’s something else you can get used to, as this mistake happens frequently throughout Juvi’s time in WCW. In this instance Larry does correct Tony and note that it’s “Guerrera” rather than “Guerrero”.
As the match is in progress Tony informs us that the Horsemen will be facing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express later in the program, a match that would have been good in the 80s but not so much in 1996.
Juvi and Kidman slap each other on the apron for a few moments, then Juvi flips over him and hits a powerbomb onto the floor.
Juvi dominates for a while with a few lucha flips, but then Kidman hits back. After a while Kidman attempts to hit the ever impressive shooting star press...
And he connects, but Juvi kicks out!
Juvi hits a hurricanrana off the top rope which Tony somehow calls a “reverse victory roll” - wut? - and gets the three count. Juvi screams “I am the best!” into the camera whilst Tony keeps trying and failing to pronounce hurricanrana with a spanish accent. Larry then says to just call it “the flying fajita” in a nice bit of casual racism.
Juventud Guerrera defeats Billy Kidman via pinfall.
Gene is in the ring, and they seem to think it’s a good idea to give this guy an interview.
As it turns out, it isn’t. The interview starts well with Gene saying Juvi isn’t “adept at English” and Gene admitting he can’t speak Spanish - “no comprende Espanyol amigo”. Always a good idea to have an interview between two people who don’t speak each other’s language. Gene asks about Juvi facing Konnan for the Mexican title. Juvi says something unintelligible in broken English before switching to yelling something in Spanish. The crowd start booing loudly and Juvi is confused by this reaction.
Juvi takes back the mic and screams “I am the best wrester Mexican”. Juvi actually manages to speak some fairly fluent English for a moment as he says he has one more thing to say - everybody in Mexico knows the New World Order, and then loses his train of thought and says something about nobody in mexico being scared of them or something. Crowd has started booing again, and Gene, realising this thing is dying a terrible death, cuts the interview with a condescending “give it a rest pal, you can take this up with somebody else”, walking away and shaking his head as if somehow this is Juvi’s fault and he’s too old for this shit.
Poor Juvi just stands there looking like a dope.
Juvi was very over at the end of the match. He was dead in the water after the interview. Good going WCW.
We get a Glacier commercial, and it’s a new one! After seeing the same promo for literally months, we finally get some fresh material...
It’s just Glacier spinning a stick around in front of a white wall with weird markings on it. He’s basically Star Wars kid before Star Wars kid became a thing. Maybe we got it all wrong and he was actually copying Glacier.
We get our first look at Tony and Larry...
Look at that multicoloured abomination on Larry’s torso. WTF kind of a shirt is that. I hope he didn’t pay too much for it.
Seriously. Dafuq. Looks like he’s wearing a child’s colouring book, with bad colouring in to boot.
Anyway, they talk about the Four Horsemen teaming up with Sting and Luger and we get a recap of the promo last week between these gentlemen confirming the agreement. The crowd are still booing at something, but not sure if it’s still Juvi or something else entirely. Rough audience tonight.
Larry starts babbling about King Nebuchadnezzar and the “five orders” and Tony’s face during this is absolutely priceless.
He’s literally staring off with this “wtf?” gaze for about ten seconds before turning back to Larry like, “u srs?”
He has no idea what is going on.
After Larry finishes his soliloquy on empires and other bullshit, Tony informs us that later on we’ll be seeing Mongo & Benoit Vs Sting & Luger. Can I ask why? Why the fuck would you do that with War Games coming up? Sting and Luger are teaming with the Horsemen at War Games, so why would they...? You know what, forget it. Next match is up. First up... AMERICAN MALES, AMERICAN MALES, AMERICAN MALES...
But Riggs is injured so it’s actually Bagwell teamed up with Jim “Jobber” Powers and his manager Teddy Long.
What a trio. Worth noting Dave Penzer calls Long “the Godfather”... Godfather of what? Jobbers? Where did that nickname come from? Does Long have some kind of Mafia history we haven’t been told about? Penzer also says they’ll be accompanied by Riggs but he’s nowhere to be seen. Guess he had better things to do.
Speaking of trios...
Their opponents are Sullivan and Big Bubba accompanied by Jimmy Hart. Oh boy. I can’t imagine this is going to be a match of the year candidate. Also the name graphic makes it look like it’s just “Taskmaster Big Bubba”.
Marcus Bagwell & Jim “Jobber” Powers Vs Kevin Sullivan & Big Bubba
Before the match we see a quick compilation of “tree of woe” moves and the double foot stomp finisher from Sullivan, after which Tony calls Sullivan “one of the most dangerous men we’ve seen in our sport for many years”. Yeah... but no. Just no. Larry then says in class he used to see kids pulling wings off flies, but Sullivan used kittens. Okay, first, where are these winged kittens that Larry is talking about? Secondly, if we assume he’s actually talking about Sullivan ripping kittens limbs off... what the fuck?
Jobber Jim actually surprisingly gets some early offence on Sullivan, during which Larry calls Jimmy Hart “a mental genius of the game”. OK.
This match goes on for way too long, but there’s a funny spot near the end where Jobber Jim is ramming both Jimmy Hart and Sullivan’s heads into the turnbuckle.
Still say the background illustration on Hart’s jacket looks more like Nash than the Giant.
Powers hits Bubba with a cross body in the wing and pins him for a three count. Everyone is shocked. But then Patrick decides the shoulder was up and restarts the match. Why did he even count the three if the shoulder was up? Don’t know.
Bubba hits his sidewalk slam and this time a three is counted for the Dungeon. Hah. Jim Powers can’t even win without losing. Honestly though, this match was better than it had any right to be considering the participants, just went a bit too long and the finish was really dumb.
Sullivan & Big Bubba defeat Marcus Bagwell & Jim “Jobber” Powers via pinfall.
Post match “the godfather” is yelling at Patrick but nobody cares. Maybe he’ll order a hit on him later. Larry calls Long a “buttinski”. I assume that’s an insult. They show a replay which blatantly shows Bubba got his shoulder up way after the three count, but Larry acts like it was a close call because he’s either blind or stupid.
Gene-o is in the ring with the victors.
Bubba says he should be getting all the title shots and should be in all the main events and he won’t be overlooked again, starting tonight. Good luck with that. Bubba also calls out Glacier, which is nice because other than the announcers nobody else has mentioned him despite two months of vignettes. Hart mocks Glacer’s “blood runs cold” tagline and says “the only thing that’s going to be running is you”. Burn.
Sullivan complains that if everybody has listened to him about Hogan then “all of this wouldn’t be going on”. No, instead we’d still have you running around with the Shark, the Zodiac and all of those other idiots in the Dungeon. Sullivan claims he saw Okerlund on a boat with Hogan a week ago. Gene says “that wasn’t me, that was Eric Bischoff”. Easy mistake to make. Love how Gene instantly tries to dump Bischoff in the shit. What a snake. Gene asks if the guy had hair, to which Sullivan says “the guy had a bald head, it was you”. Taskmaster ain’t bullshitting tonight. Not sure what the point of that was, but Sullivan transitions from this into saying the Horsemen aren’t the last line of defence for WCW. I hope he isn’t implying the Dungeon are because, if so, WCW is fucked. Gene implies Sullivan is “greasing the palm” of Nick Patrick, to which Sullivan replies “everyone’s entitled to a mistake, including you being on a boat with Hogan”. They’re really planting the seeds here with this Okerlund/Hogan stuff, but as far as I’m aware it doesn’t go anywhere so... why? Who cares if Mean Gene of all people is hanging around with Hogan anyway?
We come back from a break and now Okerlund is with Sting and Luger in the back. He’s all over the show again tonight. Lex is making a stupid face as usual. I’m starting to think he’s doing it on purpose. He looks like he accidentally sharted.
Luger says that he and Sting are “in the frame of mind to kick some behind”... what a slogan. Sting isn’t happy that after “everything was cool” last week that the Horsemen and now giving them a “gut chest” - I think he means gut check - and he says he doesn’t understand it and it means Flair and Anderson don’t trust them. Sting says that Flair should never question their “intestinal fortitude” and they’re making a mistake. Onto the next match.
Mike Enos comes out yelling “bunch of idiots”.
His opponent is Chavo Guerrero Jr.
Well, this should be a classic.
Mike Enos Vs Chavo Guerrero Jr
Enos starts the match by attempting to run into Chavo in the corner, but Chavo scrambles out of the way and Enos smacks his head into the turnbuckle. When you begin a match with that kind of strategy you know it isn’t going to end well. Literally less than a minute later Enos whips Chavo into the opposite corner, again tries to run into him, and again ends up slamming himself into the turnbuckle as Chavo moves out of the way. This Enos lad isn’t the sharpest tool in the drawer, is he?
By the way, the announcers seem even less enthused for this match than I am. They are literally acting like the match isn’t even happening, instead talking non-stop about the Giant, Macho Man and Hollywood Hogan. I mean, I get it, nobody cares about Enos and Chavo is still an unknown... but come on guys. At least act like you give a shit.
Enos ends up outside of the ring and Chavo leaps over the top rope with a cross body...
However, Enos catches him and walks around like he’s holding a child.
Watch those hands, mister.
Enos flings Chavo over with a fallaway slam - “nearly over to the guardrail” says Tony, even though it’s nowhere close.
As Enos dumps Chavo back in the ring “Dirty” Dick Slater appears at ringside.
“With a towel over his head” notes Tony. So that’s where Taz got the idea from. I’m not sure why Slater waited until now to come out.
As Enos continues to dominate we get a shot of Konnan in the crowd.
He appears to be having a nap. Tony suggests he’s “trying to be incognito”. yes, wearing that hat, that shirt and being picked up by the cameras straight away. Incognito indeed.
Enos is in the ring jumping around with Chavo across his shoulders.
It looks hilarious, although the visual doesn’t do it justice.
Enos tries a sit down powerbomb but somehow fucks it up and Chavo lands on Enos’ leg, which causes Enos to squirm in pain. Chavo then locks in a figure four, and as Enos is flailing around Randy Anderson gets “thumbed in the eye” which allows Dirty Dick to enter the ring.
Slater takes the towel off his head and puts it around Enos’ head instead. Enos rolls out of the ring as Slater beats on Chavo. Randy Anderson has apparently gone completely blind as he doesn’t notice that Dick Slater is now in the ring instead of Mike Enos. They look significantly different. Regardless, this ridiculous plan backfires when Chavo rolls up Slater with an inside cradle for the win.
Chavo Guerrero Jr defeats Mike Enos (technically Dick Slater) via Pinfall.
Enos and Slater are stunned that their idiotic plan failed. This kind of tactic is usually employed by two people who look similar, not completely different. As it turns out that part of the plan inexplicably worked - Slater is just a dunce who got beat anyway.
Okerlund is of course in the entranceway, accosting Chavo.
Chavo yells for DDP, asking where he is. Chavo claims he came out to “help” Eddie after DDP attacked him post-match at the Clash, but as we already saw Chavo was about as much help as the proverbial chocolate fireguard. Chavo says DDP tried to humiliate him by whipping him with Nick Patrick’s belt, but attests “that didn’t humiliate me, that just put coal in my fire!”
Gene looks befuddled by this. He advises Chavo to calm down and notes that DDP and Chavo have a match at Fall Brawl. Chavo says that if you mess with one of the Guerrero’s, you mess with all of them.
We get a very 90s advert with Okerlund and Heenan hawking the Nitro t-shirt.
Look at those background colours. So 90s. Gene says Heenan’s got the shirt on the wrong way around and that his “whole body is reversable”. Not sure what that means, not sure I want to know. Also unsure as to why Heenan has the shirt on backwards. It isn’t explained. Could they not have gotten anybody else to promote this? We see enough of Okerlund as it is without him shilling merch as well. At least get a wrestler to do it.
Some hair metal 80s guitar riffs hit and out comes “J. L.” - the cleverly disguised Jerry Lynn.
I have to admit I am unsure as to why Lynn was a masked wrestler in WCW. It’s not like they didn’t have enough luchadores wearing masks.
His opponent is the Cruiserweight champion Rey Mysterio Jr.
The enthusiasm in the crowd is off the charts.
J.L. Vs Rey Mysterio Jr
Throughout his entrance and indeed throughout the match JL is constantly adjusting his mask. It’s a bit distracting. Tony calls JL “mysterious” but then goes on to talk about his success in Japan and how he isn’t from Mexico, so I guess not that mysterious. It’s literally just because he has a mask on.
The match begins with various arm holds and JL keeping Mysterio in a headlock for a while. The contest has barely begun before Tony starts spluttering and says he’s been told Hogan is outside. The camera cuts to the back where we see Hogan, Hall and Nash.
Hogan grabs somebody who for some reason was randomly standing around outside with a spotlight and takes him over to the production truck.
They spraypaint the truck with nWo logos as Tony acts disgusted, like this is the worst thing that’s ever been done. You know, if you guys are so appalled by this behaviour you don’t have to show it on camera. You could just... not show it. Also that is some really shitty spraypainting.
“What are they saying here?” Tony asks. “nWo 4 life?”
Yes, that is literally what they have spraypainted on the truck Tony. Good reading skills.
Tony says that bills will be coming the nWo’s way from Turner and he hopes they “have insurance”. Yeah, I’m sure Hogan will need insurance to pay a fine for having some spraypaint cleaned off a truck. With that said I’m not sure you can get insurance to cover you in the event of you deciding to vandalise a truck, but whatever. Tony mocks the idea of the nWo having a fourth man and reckons they’ll go into War Games a man down. Sounds reasonable. He says Hogan has turned into a “street thug”. Sure, he’s running with the gangs now. A matter of time before he’s committing drive-bys and making rap videos.
Oh, there’s still a match going on by the way. Not that it’s anything exciting. It might be the most boring match in Rey’s history. I’m guessing on purpose, knowing that most of it is going to be cut in favour of showing Hogan and the outsiders. As we go to a break Tony is mumbling about the nWo being “jerks” whilst Larry says “it’s the 90s. Hogan happens”. No idea what he means by that.
When we get back from the break Tony apologises for his comments. What comments? Calling Hogan a thug and a jerk? Jeez, you better start relaxing a little Tony or you’ll start breaking out the “gosh darn it’s”.
Stinko appears in the entraceway, radiating with his usual charisma and charm. At least somebody is interested in this match. They literally focus on Dean’s static face for about ten seconds. Tony just keeps ranting about Hogan.
JL gets down on his hands and knees by his own accord. Odd strategy.
Rey hugs him from behind. I have no idea what is going on here. After some brief chain wrestling Rey then decides to get down on his hands and knees.
Seriously, what is going on here? Rather than give Rey a cuddle from behind, JL just boots him in the back. Tony says the fans have been “wowed” by Mysterio’s moves, which is a lie as he hasn’t done anything of note. Well, he might have, but we haven’t seen any of it thanks to Hogan and the commercial break. All we’ve seen are arm holds, headlocks and Rey and JL getting into doggy positions for reasons the announcers don’t bother to explain.
Larry claims that “a big neck is easier to break than a small, limber one”. Not sure I understand the logic there.
JL puts Mysterio in a boston crab in what has been a painfully slow cruiserweight match. Seriously, how is a match between Jerry Lynn and Rey Mysterio this fucking boring?
Fireworks go off as hour number two begins, and we switch to Eric Bischoff and Bobby Heenan. This is literally the most exciting part of this match so far, but the last thing it needed was another distraction.
The match spills to the outside and JL slams Rey into the barricade.
He also slams Rey’s head into the ring post. Bischoff and Heenan meanwhile pick up where Tony and Larry left off and continue complaining about the production truck being spraypainted. Seriously guys, get over it. Do you not remember a few weeks ago when the outsiders were literally trying to kill wrestlers with baseball bats? This is pretty tame in comparison. A bit of water and the truck will be good as new.
It’s kind of fitting that this match ends with a botch as Rey attempts to do his springboard hurricanrana off the apron...
But JL can’t rotate all the way over so instead his head just slams into the mat. Ouch. Rey gets the pin and Heenan advises JL to “go to your room”. OK. That was the slowest and most disappointing Rey match on Nitro to date. It might have been better if the announcers had spent more time telling the story of JL trying to ground Mysterio with mat holds, but instead they were just talking about the nWo, so... yeah.
Rey Mysterio defeats JL via Pinfall.
Mean Gene is in the company of the lesser known Horsemen, along with Woman, Liz (sleeping?) and Debra.
Gene tries to shill his hotline by talking about some rumour about Mongo going back to the NFL (if only), but Mongo isn’t having any of it, telling Gene he doesn’t give a shit about his 1-900 number. Mongo says that “in hindsight” Sting and Luger shouldn’t be going to War Games with Flair and Anderson, it should be Mongo and Benoit. So much for respecting Flair and Anderson’s decision last week. Mongo says they’ll prove it to the world, to WCW and to the nWo, then makes a fart noise. Gene says the nWo have been “having a little fun painting”. I love how the announcers have been so offended by what happened, and Gene is just like “whatever”. For once he has it right.
Woman is all over Gene and he tells her she has to “knock it off on television”. He’s definitely up for it once the cameras are off though. Woman says she can’t help herself (why?) and then asks how things are between Gene and Hulk Hogan.
Uncomfortable. Still not sure why everybody is obsessed with this Okerlund and Hogan thing. So what if Gene did join the nWo? Why would anybody give a shit?
Gene switches to Benoit, who immediately fucks up the start of his promo by struggling to pronounce “relinquish”. Benoit says tonight isn’t about vengeance or envy, but it’s about “security”. Strange word to use but OK. Benoit says to look into his eyes and asks if we can see “the hungry beast”.
Not really. He looks bored.
We’re thrown back to Bischoff and Heenan at the announce desk. Bichoff notes that Macho will have his chance to face Hogan for the title at Halloween Havoc, then we are shown footage from a couple of weeks ago where Hogan came out to whack Savage with a chair and help Flair beat him. We then see Savage’s promo from last week and the end of the match with Macho and Giant, with Macho making the mistake of cracking Meng over the head with a chair. After this Gene is in the back with Savage.
As usual there are random WCW shirts hanging from the lockers, and a towel. I hope that’s clean - kind of gross if not.
Gene tells Macho that Hogan “did you in”, as usual he isn’t mincing his words. Macho screams that he’s “quiet but deadly right now”. Macho says that he deserves to win at Havoc and that it’s for “all the marbles”, even though he only has one marble in his head. Macho says it’ll be “the scariest match of the century” and he’s going to take Hogan apart because nobody cares.
Gene disagrees and says that he does care, and Macho yells “I don’t care if you care!” - Gene mentions that Savage has the Giant at Fall Brawl - the PPV before Havoc - but Savage responds “I’m going to bowl through the Giant and that’s it” before storming off. “Randy Savage, do you have an extra chair?” Okerlund calls - can’t tell if he’s being a dick or not. You can hear Savage hollering something inaudible. Quiet but deadly indeed.
We go back to the arena and unfortunately Hacksaw is out next.
For reasons beyond my understanding he gets a ridiculous amount of pyro. Goldberg levels of pyro.
This guy’s expression says it all. He hasn’t been impressed with much so far tonight, not sure why the camera keeps showing him. Heenan admits he isn’t thrilled that WCW’s future lies with “a madman, a beserk individual who can’t put a thought together”. Brutal. He then goes on to say Savage will never give up and if anyone wants to beat Hogan, it’s Macho. So now I have no idea if Heenan is for or against the idea.
Duggan’s opponent is the Giant.
Happily I don’t foresee this ending well for Hacksaw.
“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan Vs The Giant
Hacksaw immediately gets a “USA” chant going and stomps around the ring like a child.
He attempts a shoulder block on the Giant but bounces off of him, which prompts Hacksaw to adopt this pose.
Duggan attempts another shoulder tackle but Jimmy Hart grabs his foot, which causes Hacksaw to sprint - or more accurately jog - after Hart on the outside of the ring. He manages to get Jimmy’s jacket but the mouth of the south escapes. Not exactly hard to outrun Duggan in fairness.
The Giant comes after Duggan, who tosses Hart’s jacket into his face and then throws a few punches to Giant’s chest before getting back into the ring, yelling “HOOOO” and getting another “USA” chant going. Giant gets up on the apron but Hacksaw knocks him off and then gets back out of the ring. Heenan suggests Hacksaw is “like a refrigerator” and doubts Giant can chokeslam him. Considering we have seen Giant chokeslam the much bigger John Tenta more than once I’m not sure this logic makes much sense, but whatever.
Giant whips Duggan back first into the ring post, but then Duggan moves as Giant charges him.
Imagine getting outsmarted by Jim Duggan.
Giant is finally able to get back into the ring and puts Duggan into a bear hug.
He can barely get his arms around Duggan’s thicc frame. He might be the only person in WCW who could wrap his arms around Duggan though, so it’s somewhat impressive. Hacksaw manages to fight out of the bearhug and stagger into the corner, so Giant goes over and starts slamming his butt into Hacksaw’s gut.
I think this picture says enough.
Duggan attempts to slam the Giant but can’t lift him up. Giant clobbers Duggan back down to the mat, and then...
Ted DiBiase appears in the crowd. Whilst he slowly makes his way down to ringside Giant and Hacksaw are cuddling in the ring again.
I have no idea why Patrick looks so terrified. It’s possible Hacksaw has farted. Anyhow, Hacksaw pulls out his trusty roll of tape - from the way he digs it out I think it sits somewhere underneath his balls, which is disgusting, then blasts Giant in the head with it.
It doesn’t really have much effect, although I dread to think what it smells like. Jimmy Hart gets up on the apron holding Duggan’s 2x4. Nick Patrick, Jimmy Hart and Hacksaw then have a tug of war over it.
At this point I’m quite confused as to whether the roll of tape is legal or not. Patrick did not care in the slightest when Hacksaw was whacking Giant with it, but I swear Hacksaw has been disqualified before for using it. WCW, where rules are as useful as Chavo Guerrero Jr. Whilst all this nonsense is going on Giant grabs Duggan and...
Chokeslam. Goodnight. Match over.
The Giant defeats “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan via Pinfall.
That match lasted a lot longer than I thought it would, and Duggan got in way too much offence. Giant did not benefit from this match at all. The camera immediately switches to DiBiase in the crowd who gives us the Four Horsemen salute.
A few things to note. Firstly the guy to Dibiase’s right doing it with him just looks bizarre. Secondly the guy to DiBiase’s left is booing very aggressively - unsure as to whether he’s mad Hacksaw lost or just dislikes Ted. Thirdly the guy behind DiBiase’s shoulder is screaming and looks like he’s popping out of DiBiase’s shoulder, like that character in MiB II.
DiBiase opens has palm for “five” and says “next week”.
Looks like he’s about to do the “you can’t see me” thing, but he doesn’t. The guy to DiBiase’s right is shocked by this, again copying the “five” hand gesture and yelling “five! Next week! Five!” at whoever is next to him and the camera.
Bischoff asks if DiBiase is playing games. Heenan says he’s known DiBiase for a long time and, exact quote, “he doesn’t play games, he plays games that are serious”. He does play games then. Bischoff says “maybe he’s the fifth horseman”. Yes, the fifth member of the four horsemen. That makes sense.
Because we can’t go one segment without Okerland, he’s now on the ramp with Giant and Jimmy Hart.
Gene says Giant is “in shock”, Giant replies “you’re roggone right I’m in shock” - I assume he means doggone but is for some reason channeling Scooby Doo. Giant, whilst talking, says he can hardly talk because he’s in shock. Giant’s face is really close to the camera and it’s really unsettling.
Back up a little, jeez.
Anyway, Giant takes exception with Macho blaming him for losing the title to Hogan. Giant asks why Savage wasn’t around to help out when Nash and Hall helped Hogan take the belt from the Giant. A fair point. Giant postulates that Savage was scared, and he “can’t cut the job”, whatever that means. Giant says Macho isn’t going to fight Hogan, he is, because he “is the world heavyweight champion”.
Giant looks like he’s about to cry. He also seems to be in denial over losing the title. He says he’ll beat either Hogan or Savage for the belt and that he’ll be waiting for Savage at Fall Brawl.
As Gene talks we can clearly see the Giant’s spit on the camera lens. Nice. Gene actually gets out a hankerchief and tries to wipe down the camera saying “for goodness sakes these guys are very messy”.
We come back from the break to find 80s rejects the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express coming to the ring.
Seriously, these shirts.
I hope they didn’t sell these. Looks like somebody literally drew the design on a white shirt for them with sharpies.
More enthusiastic crowd shots. Why is it every time they show this guy on the right he looks bored as fuck? Why is he even there?
This fella also gives one of the least enthusiastic “woooo”’s and thumbs up I’ve ever seen. Orange Cassidy would be proud.
Ric Flair’s music hits.
DiBiase is looking at Liz and Woman and likes what he sees. I’m with you chief. Heenan says that DiBiase is sitting in the crowd “inconspicuously” but then notes he made his way to his seat literally through everybody in the middle of the show. He’s contradicted himself within single sentences three times in the last twenty minutes. He’s a very confused man tonight.
Bischoff: “I’ve just thought of something. He could be the fourth nWo guy, and next week there’s a fifth”. Really, Eric, you’ve only just come to that realisation? I think everybody else probably came to that conclusion first, rather than assuming DiBiase was the fifth member of the four horsemen, but OK. Congrats on gaining such insight. He’s still pushing the fifth Horseman idea as the more likely outcome, though, so still a total dunce. Hogan, Nash and Hall - all arrived from the WWF, two of whom very recently. DiBiase left the WWF in May/June.
Obviously going to join the Horsemen and not the WWF-invaders-but-not-WWF-invaders nWo faction.
The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express Vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson
As usual the Horsemen end up getting their butts kicked early on. Flair takes a double dropkick out of the ring and starts squaring up to fans.
Ole has lost some weight.
The Horsemen surprisingly take control for a while, then a brawl breaks out between all four men in the ring. Arn eventually sneaks up on Morton and hits him with a DDT.
Gibson sees this happen, and is literally on the apron as Ric goes for the pin...
For some reason he is insanely slow and casual about getting in to break it up though, so the ref counts the three and your winners are the Horsemen.
Ric Flair and Arn Anderson defeat the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express via Pinfall.
I love how at the end of the match Gibson stares down so disappointedly at Morton.
I mean, he could have easily broken up the pinfall, but he made about as much effort as the people who designed he and Morton’s t-shirts. What a bell. This was a short match, not that I mind.
Bischoff says it looks like Arn Anderson could chew through the steel cage at War Games, “and no doubt he will” - erm, I think there is some doubt as to whether Arn will literally chew through steel, but OK.
Oh look, it’s Gene. What a surprise. He isn’t even waiting by the entrance anymore. Straight down to the ring, not even letting the Horsemen get a breather before shoving a microphone into their faces.
Gene complains about Woman molesting him again, and begs Liz to do something. Liz coyly says “there’s nothing I can do to control her”. It’s like the start of a creepy porno.
Gene asks Arn about the upcoming War Games match.
Arn: “There’s a time to ogle the women, Gene Okerlund, and this ain’t it”. Slapping Gene down to the ground. I like it. Arn says that the hourglass has been turned around, and the sand is running out on the nWo. Not even close Arn, not even close. Arn repeats that the nWo picked their spot about ten times before saying “when they shut the cage, and you look into our guts” - wait, what? Shouldn’t that be eyes? The only way I can think to look into someone’s guts without cutting their stomach open is... never mind. Arn says the Horsemen were in the first War Games and they’ll be in the last one.
Quick fact check on this - nope. If we’re talking purely WCW War Games 1997 was the last one the Horsemen were involved in. 1998 was Team WCW vs nWo Hollywood vs nWo Wolfpac and there was no War Games in 1999. They apparently had a random one in 2000 on Nitro but that didn’t involve the Horsemen either and who gave a shit about WCW at that point anyway? Back to 1996...
Arn says the Outsiders will be gone by now and we won’t see them again tonight. He says if you want to be a man in this sport you need to jump on a guy, eye to eye, nose to nose... uh...
Gene’s expression mirrors mine.
We see a clip from the Clash of the Champions - Flair has Hogan in the Figure 4 and Gene asks Flair if Hogan submitted. Flair claims that Hogan looked into his eyes and said “oh great Nature Boy, I give up, I quit, you are too much man, today”. Not only would that be a really strange thing to say in the circumstances, but we are literally watching footage which shows this never happened. Flair is screaming that the Outsiders better be ready because War Games “are not in the Big Apple, they’re not in Chicago, they’re not in LA, they’re in Winston Salem, North Carolina”.
Liz looks like she’s really enjoying this promo. Flair’s head looks set to burst. Woman is trying to molest poor Gene again. Gene thanks Flair, who continues to go absolutely nuts, flailing around like he’s having a seizure.
Totally insane. I love how Woman is so used to it she’s just looking on like nothing weird is happening at all.
Another Glacier promo. I’m sure this will all be worth it when he debuts... right?
Out next is Chris Jericho.
I can’t really make out what he’s yelling at the camera, but it sounds like “let’s go, are you ready WCW for lion”. Sure. Jericho is yelling to try and get the crowd pumped up.
Doesn’t appear to be working. These are the kind of expressions you’d get if you took a shit in the entranceway. What is with WCW showing totally unenthusiastic crowd members tonight?
His opponent is “Das WunderSwan” Alex Wright.
STOP PANNING TO BORED MEMBERS OF THE AUDIENCE.
WunderSwan does his usual backslip off the turnbuckle as he enters the ring.
Impressive until he blows a knee out on one of his landings, then stupid.
Chris Jericho vs “Das WunderSwan” Alex Wright
Bischoff takes credit for signing Jericho to WCW. Is this his debut? Just checked wikipedia and yes, it is indeed. Bischoff calls Jericho “an upstanding young man, and an outstanding wrestler”. Like a teacher’s report card. Heenan asks if Bischoff has co-signed for a house with Jericho. Bischoff suggests that Jericho and Wright “could be the backbone of WCW for years to come”. Jericho left in early 1999 despite being hugely over and Alex Wright became Berlyn, so, no.
Match starts off pretty slow with various mat holds. For some reason Bischoff takes this moment to shit on Big Bubba, mocking him for having a problem with Glacier - “he’s not even here yet” - and saying that he has a problem. Not sure what prompted that. Jericho hits Wright with a spinning leg kick, which Bischoff describes as an elbow for some reason, then does his trademark dropkick off the turnbuckle, sending Wright crashing to the outside.
Bischoff calls it an “inverted dropkick”. I have no idea how you would even invert a dropkick, but OK. Springboard dropkick would be more appropriate. Wright manages to get back into the match and hits a cross body on Jericho from the turnbuckle.
Heenan says Alex Wright has “more experience” than Jericho which is definitely not true.
Jericho:
Alex Wright:
Enough said. Get your facts straight Bobby.
At one point Jericho is outside of the ring and Wright gets up top...
So, what’s the plan here? A double sledge, Macho Man style? A flying cross body? A dropkick?
No. None of these. He just jumps down and smacks his arm/head onto the guardrail.
...
...
...
What a helmet.
Jericho rolls back in the ring and Wright gets counted out. For some reason Jericho tells the ref he “doesn’t want to win this way” and it gets declared a No Contest. WTF? If it’s a count out then it’s a count out, Jericho can’t decide to call it a No Contest just because he feels sorry for Das BlunderDunce.
The crowd boos as Jericho checks on Wright.
Chris Jericho Vs “Das WunderDunce” Alex Wright ends in a No Contest.
Are you kidding me? Gene is out there AGAIN? I hope he isn’t getting paid by screen time because he literally gets more of it than anybody else on the show. His face should be front and centre of all promotion items.
Wright is stumbling around, seemingly concussed, but Gene coldly says they’ll get him on his feet and then says that Jericho’s debut was a “breath of fresh air”. It really wasn’t any better than a lot of the cruiserweight matches we’ve already seen, but sure, whatever.
Jericho says he came to WCW to fight “to the best of my ability”, as opposed to only some of his ability, I guess? Jericho says he respects Alex Wright, for some reason, and then says whilst he wouldn’t take a victory like this, he knows somebody who would... Hulk Hogan and the nWo. OK. Not sure why Jericho feels the need to shit on Hogan, Hall and Nash right out the gate but there you go. Jericho says “me and Alex are going to fight with all of our hearts... for WCW!” - possibly the cheesiest and lamest thing I’ve ever heard. Wright is still staggering around in a daze. He stumbles towards Okerlund who bluntly tells him there’s no interview time left and he should go to the back and get his wits together. No fucks given from Gene.
We come back from the break to find the next match about to begin, with two teams in the ring.
Looks like Scott Steiner (w/Crazy Huge Arms) and Rick Steiner (w/Clinical Lycanthropy) facing off against the Blue Bloods. Earl Robert Eaton and Squire Dave Taylor if my eyes don’t deceive me. Where’s Lord Steven, dammit?
The Steiner Brothers Vs The Blue Bloods
The Earl and the Squire start the match by arguing about who is going in first. Normally both want to start, but in this instance neither of them do. Eaton complains he always starts. Squire keeps yelling at Eaton to get in the ring. The Dog Faced Gremlin soon has enough of this bullshit, sneaking up behind these idiots and slamming their heads together.
Eaton now does get in the ring, but Taylor is still shouting at him, so the Earl pushes the Squire off the ring apron.
Rick Steiner gives Eaton a hip toss and barks. After smacking Eaton around for a bit Taylor comes into the ring. Both Blue Bloods get clotheslined and roll out of the ring to continue arguing, whilst Rick and Scott do their pose with Rick barking again.
Rick crawls over and bites the rope.
This is who you’re losing to, guys.
There was no tag but the Squire is in now. He actually gets some offence and hauls Rick up onto his shoulders, as Eaton dives from the top rope.
As you might expect this doesn’t end very well, as Rick appears to get dumped right on his head.
But for some reason Eaton is the one who is knocked out.
The Steiners win. I don’t think Scott Steiner or his arms did anything in this match. Hold on, wasn’t Dave Taylor the legal man here? How did Eaton get pinned? Maybe it... oh, no, it’s just WCW. Rules only apply when required.
The Steiner Brothers defeat The Blue Bloods via Pinfall.
The Squire is understandably annoyed that Eaton somehow managed to lose the match despite not even being the legal man, and slaps him in the face.
Should arguably be slapping the ref for counting the wrong man, but whatever.
The Blue Bloods get into a fight, which Eaton gets the best of. We suddenly hear Rick Steiner on the microphone saying “Eaton’s going crazy! Get him, Bobby, beat him up!” - that’s not helping.
Okerlund again, of course. He asks Scotty what he makes of this and he replies “I don’t know Gene, they’re going nuts! I thought they were supposed to be friends? Partners?” - because no tag team has ever had an acrimonious split before.
Nick Patrick is trying (badly) to stop the Blue Bloods fighting, whilst Gene asks them to calm down and Rick Steiner continues trolling them and telling them to keep going. Hah.
Once the Blue Bloods are finally gone, Gene asks Rick about their match with Harlem Heat at Fall Brawl. Rick says “you know, Gene, being a dog (Clinical Lycanthropy, this man needs a doctor) I prey on my opponents. You see, in the dog pound, it’s the be a hard times (?), when you boys get to Halloween Havoc, I’m going to be Peter Peter, the Pumpkin Eater and it’s gonna be my party!”
Just... what? I couldn’t help but laugh at this. You really have to watch this promo to understand how hilarious it is. Rick is absolutely insane.
Scott reminds Rick “it’s not Halloween, it’s Fall Brawl” as Rick barks. Scott says something inaudible about hens going “cock-a-doodle-do”. Scott says when the Steiners get to Fall Brawl they’ll be “getting radical” and the Heat will be “going down”.
Mental.
It’s main event time. Out first is Chris Benoit and Mongo, accompanied by the females, of course.
Woman has decided to put some shades on, even though she wasn’t wearing any before. We get another shot of Ted DiBiase looking on.
Here come Sting and Luger.
Chris Benoit and Steve “Mongo” McMichael Vs Sting and Lex Luger
No messing around here, we go straight into a brawl with all four men dogpiling into the corner.
For some reason Randy Anderson rings the bell to start the match, despite both teams still brawling and nobody in their respective corners. I guess it’s a Tornado Tag now!
After a couple of minutes things settle down a bit, with Luger and Mongo in the ring and Benoit and Sting on the apron. Embarrassingly for Luger Mongo gets the better of him, then tags out to Benoit. Heenan suggests that at War Games the cage could be upside down. Logistically I doubt that’s possible.
Luger gets beaten up by Mongo and Benoit for a while before the old double clothesline spot sending both men down.
That clothesline is literally the first move Benoit has taken, but he acts like he got shot and Luger somehow starts getting up before Benoit. Maybe this is why Ric and Arn don’t want you at War Games, Chris.
Luger manages to tag in Sting, who takes charge.
Sting goes for the Scorpion Deathlock on Benoit. Mongo runs in to break it up but ends up getting dropkicked out of the ring.
All of a sudden, Hollywood arrives.
Hogan backs up around the ring as McMichael stalks him, then Scott Hall flies in out of nowhere to knock Mongo down.
Heenan flees the broadcast booth. Nash has also appeared and along with Hall he rams Mongo’s head into the post. No harm done I’d imagine. Mongo gets tagged, and the official title of being the first person to be spraypainted by the nWo. The Production Truck obviously holds the honour of being the first object to be tagged.
Benoit gets hit with the Outsider’s Edge.
Whilst Sting eats a Jacknife Powerbomb.
Luger got rammed into the ring post earlier by Mongo, so he’s still laid out on the floor somewhere. Hogan tags Benoit and Sting.
Ric Flair and Arn Anderson finally come out, albeit a bit late.
Ric and Arn initially have the advantage, but then both get spraypainted in the eyes.
Hogan tosses Flair to the outside and spraypaints his hair like a skunk.
The crowd begin throwing garbage in the ring as Hogan and the Outsiders celebrate.
Seriously, these guys are getting pelted with cups of drink. Hogan spraypaints the back of Nash’s shirt for some reason. I think he’s a little too excited about this new hobby.
Check out the amount of trash that’s in the ring.
Gross. The nWo commandeer the announce desk and run off Eric.
“Heeeere’s the nWo!”
“Anarchy! Anarchy!” says Nash whilst Hogan yells “anything less would be too civilised!”
The show ends with a look at the carnage inside the ring...
And a replay of DiBiase holding up the five fingers.
Awesome ending to the show. This was peak nWo and when people really started to take notice of what was going on in WCW.
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4 AM socialists sound like a helluva story about neighbors. I used to think the stoners, who could give us a contact high through the second floor window of our house several times a day, were something to behold. But, 4 AM socialists just sound like one of those stories you tell at a bar or as a mic drop story.
Well the 4am socialists were heavy stoners as well, so there’s a bit of overlap there...
Ok, so the thing you have to understand about where I live is that back in the 70s and 80s housing was cheep and it became the home of immigrants and hippies/social activists, and while many of the vietnamese and greek families have moved on, the hippies tended to stay. It’s also a short distance to one of the major Universities, so there are a lot of students who like to live in the area too - particularly since it now has a reputation for being “alternative”.
And of course that means you have a lot of “creative” types. Now I don’t know exactly why this one set of neighbours liked to play their tribal drums at 1am in the morning (one of my friends suggested they may have been music students with notoriously horrible tutoring schedules), but a few years later we had the 4am socialists.
By which I mean they would sleep till noon, disappear for the afternoon/early evening and then reappear on the balcony in the depths of the night as they got stoned and loudly debated the tenets of socialism.
Badly.
Like “How revolution is impossible without throwing off the strictures of parental authority ” and “ How can we best attack a oppressive capitalist system that fails to recognise the worth of intellectual discourse.” Yeah, you know the type. The ones who might actually expire if they ever DID read their source material...
And they kept at it, I mean EVERY SINGLE NIGHT!! I even had my own rewrite of “Go the Fuck to Sleep” JUST FOR THEM! (I should probably dig that up for laughs...) Complaints from other neighbours were met with the usual “you can’t tell us what to do” attitude and general bad language.
So I started sneezing.At 7am in the morning. On my balcony that directly faced theirs.
Certain people will see where this is going, but for those of you who don’t know, I have an extremely loud, extremely piercing sneeze which is about 2 octaves higher than my natural speaking voice. And with over a decade of choral singing you bet I have an impressive lung capacity. I have literally nearly caused several accidents, because out of nowhere : “AHCHOO!!!!” and all around me are deafened.
Now, I know what triggers it, which allows me to stop the sneeze in its tracks a lot of the time, even if occasionally it still sneaks out. But for my would be revolutionaries? I used my powers for evil
No sleep for poor Crow until 6am? Well, Crow will go look at the lovely morning sun! Such a pretty sight! Too bad about the photo-optic sneeze reflex! When they started grumbling about that but still kept the pre sunrise soliloquies; oh no guess I’d better go outside to check what’s going on... unfortunately burning sage/patchouli/weed etch are also guaranteed to set me off. Too bad the air’s currently full of it huh?
(I’m serious about that last one. For some reason a lot of incense etc will set off truly impressive sneezing fits for me. There’s a reason I don’t smoke, anything.)
Eventually they got the message.
Eventually.
And suddenly my allergies got a lot better ;)
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Last night felt like a dream.... real, but kind of unbelievable at the same time.
I feel like I'm floating in a bubble of happiness, so so thankful for everyone who helped out with this show, from my wonderful cast and hardworking crew (shoutout to Rachel, who amazed me with her resilience and creativity as assistant director - this was the first show she's ever been in!!), and to all the volunteers who helped set up the performance and art exhibition. And I'm especially thankful for my amazing mother, who stayed up the night before, baking food for the bake sale/concession stand, then manning the concession stand during the show along with Nina's mother!
After two months of hard work, everything came together in such an incredible way, I could not have asked for a more rewarding experience.
THE SHOW
In the two weeks leading up to the showcase, everything was flowing quite smoothly.
Rachel and I would spend a majority of our time in Design Lab either cutting out these huge snowflakes for decoration, or painting the flats and platforms for the set.
Priya would write up our blog posts for the class, and help us whenever we needed a hand.
Last week, I posted a reflection on rehearsals, specifically group song rehearsals, with a video attached of us learning the sign language for Song of Purple Summer. Go check that out!
I had a crap ton of loose ends to tie up.
I had to revise the entire show program/playbill because we made a bunch of changes to the scenes and lineup of acts at the last minute. So throughout the school day (during lunch and Design Lab), I sat down and rushed to make the necessary changes.
Rachel, darling that she is, made sure that the set was finished and then helped me make the programs look nice. We stayed after school so that we could print the programs (and boy did that take a lot of time) and set up the art show.
I'm going to bow down to *queen* Rachel because she is truly a powerhouse. She took charge of setting up the entire art show, and she did a fantastic job with it!
The art itself was abso-frickin-lutely amazing! We hung strings of lights around the auditorium lobby for decoration, and the entire exhibition looked breath-taking.
We had a cue-to-cue rehearsal yesterday from 5:30, before the show.
We desperately needed it, because we hadn't run the show in its entirety yet. The actual cue-to-cue went well, credit to the cast and crew for working so well together and coming prepared - everyone knew when their scenes were, where to be, etc.
We had some technical issues as we were starting the cue-to-cue: at first NONE of the stage lights were working!
RJ, who was doing lights and tech, ran an extension chord from the catwalk above the stage down to a table backstage, connecting the stage lights to his light board so that he could control them. For some reason, even though the extension chord was plugged and showed that it was working, the lights wouldn't respond when RJ put them on. This was happening less than an hour before the show started. We decided to run through the cue-to-cue regardless, using just the spotlight and making sure that the acts and scene changes ran smoothly.RJ went up to the catwalk to try and fix the light issue. (He did eventually, but we still don't know why they weren't working)
Then, another problem came up: we realized that we had gotten the wrong microphones.
We had to borrow microphones from the school office (4 lapel mics and 2 handhelds), since we didn't have our own. (When we found out that lapel mics were an option, we were super excited, because they allow for a much greater range of motion and the user doesn't have to worry about how they're holding them.)
* Quick side note: I made an incredibly stupid mistake earlier that day - I forgot to get the mics from the office. I was setting up the stage for the cue-to-cue when RJ asked me, "hey Irina, where are the microphones?".
I froze.
The only thing running through my head was 'holy shit holy shit holy shit'.
And I took off, running to find one of the janitors. The mics were locked in a safe in one of the office closets, and only the administrators knew the code to that safe. I nearly broke down when I remembered that. All of this planning and hard work, going up in flames because I was stupid enough to forget to get the microphones. Thankfully, it turned out that there was a basketball game going on at that exact time, and one of the administrators was there. She unlocked the safe, I got the microphones, and booked it back to the auditorium in record time. **
The sound board backstage could only have 3 mics on at a time - either 2 lapels and 1 handheld or vice versa. And only certain mics could be turned on at the same time (for example, only lapel 1 and 3 could be on at the same time, and only 2 and 4 could be put on together), same thing with the handheld mics.
During dress rehearsal on Wednesday, Rachel and RJ had made sure to connect each of our microphones to the correct channel in the sound system, and they could only work if they were synced to that channel. When we started to do the cue-to-cue, we realized that we had borrowed the wrong handheld microphone, and that it wouldn't work with any of the other mics that we had. Thankfully, Rachel figured out that we could just sync the microphone to one of the other channels, so we got back on track again.
We ended up pushing opening back 15 minutes; instead of letting people in at 6:30, we let them in at 6:45. Everyone was rushing around backstage, making final touches to their makeup, making sure the mics were in order, and getting in their places.
And then the show started.
The curtains open with me standing center stage, on the square platform.
My heart is pounding, my stomach in knots. I let out a slow breath, trying to calm my pulse. I close my eyes for a second, blinded by the spotlight, then look out at the audience. Vague black shapes can be seen in the audience, with faces peeking out here and there. My eyes immediately find Gillian, sitting down in the audience. My muscles relax, and I start speaking.
"This is for the fat girls.This is for the little brothers.This is for the schoolyard wimps and the childhood bullies that tormented them.For the former prom queen and for the milk crate ball players,for the nighttime cereal eaters and for the retired elderly Walmart storefront door greeters.
Shake the dust."
After that opening poem (Shake the Dust by Anis Mojgani), the entire night was a blur.
At first I was really worried, rushing around to make sure that everyone was at their places and had their mics, that the crew knew what set change was next and that everyone was quiet backstage. But after a while I realized that I didn't need to micro-manage it all.
I stepped back and let everyone do their thing, and guess what - it went perfectly!
I stood behind the flats that hid the backstage area and watched each act, tearing up a little at a sad poem, laughing when Ivy went out to read a Shakespearean soliloquy. And I was amazed at how wonderful each act was, how well the audience responded, how everything just fell into place.
At the end of the show, everyone took their bows and waved to the audience. Then Nina stepped forward as the curtains were closing, telling everyone to wait a second. She was holding a bouquet of roses, and pulled me, bumbling mess I was, forward with her. And as she thanked me for organizing the showcase, I looked around at all my friends, surrounding me on stage, and I thought "this is why I do theater. This is what makes it all worth it".
And now, just a day later, post-show depression is hitting me, hard.
That's probably why this post is really sappy and mushy, but I'm going to let myself wallow in it for a little while longer.
#upsince3#@designlab#designthinking#wintershowcase#theatre#show#performance#senior project#graduation project#ARTSOFPV#hardwork#theoneandonlyrei#amazing#iwoulddoitalloveragain#art#creativity
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Methods to Talk Dirty Such As For Instance a Porn Star, as Told By Porn Stars
Methods to Talk Dirty Such As For Instance a Porn Star, as Told By Porn Stars
Experiencing tongue-tied? We consulted professionals about how to up your game
If the word “dirty talk” fills you with palpable anxiety, do not feel too bad — lots of people have the in an identical way. Dirty talk is messy company. It is not simple to be susceptible, and referring to your intimate dreams efficiently provides your lover a huge, gaping screen into the personal globe. Even though your chosen porn movie movie stars ensure it is look really easy, in terms of really operating the show yourself, stage fright is bound to ensue. Happily we spoke to a few porn stars, like Alison Tyler, Kendra Sunderland, Alana Luv, and Vicki Chase, to get their tips for taking your bedroom dirty talk to the next level, or at least a notch above wildly awkward and uncomfortable for you. Listed below are methods for just how to talk dirty such as for instance a porn star.
The Talk Prior To The Talk
A sexual soliloquy on your partner in the middle of sex can go one of two ways: really well, or really poorly if you’ve never forayed into the world of dirty talk, springing. So that it’s frequently an idea that is good speak about talking beforehand if you’re nervous about throwing that ingredient to the mix.
“You don’t have actually to get into details immediately, but finding out just exactly exactly exactly what the convenience degree is beforehand then attempting things when you look at the minute is really a good option to go,” says previous porn star Alison Tyler. “Also, if one thing didn’t feel right or some body didn’t like one thing, be truthful along with your partner. Honesty could be the road to higher sex.”
A idea that is good broaching the topic may be just to pose a question to your partner if you are doing precisely what she likes during intercourse. Ask her if she is pleased. Ask her to inform you what you could fare better. From then on, you are able to inform her it turns you in to know her provide suggestions, and ask her if possibly she would not mind integrating that into the minute. Go on it after that to see just just just how it goes. (of course you want much more recommendations, check always our course out on how best to please a female.)
Simple is Sexy
Just like such a thing intimate, overthinking most commonly it is the very first issue. That which we see in television while the films is generally a version that is highly exaggerated of. And that’s particularly so in terms of porn. Therefore while your porn that is favorite star jour is monologuing her brains away, you’re sitting here worried that you’ll never ever manage to keep in mind dozens of lines if it is your change within the limelight. But be confident, claims Tyler: simple is sexy.
“I feel just like many guys overthink dirty talk,” she says. “Guys feel a great deal stress with regards to saying just the right thing rather than saying the incorrect thing. They have been afraid of saying something very wrong and then destroying intercourse forever. He has held it certainly easy. for me personally, the greatest times that I’ve been with some guy is whenever”
Including, Tyler likes it when guys compliment her body, or inform her how her body feels with theirs. “Tell me personally everything you enjoy, or what you will enjoy a lot more of. Being descriptive into the brief minute keeps them from overcooking it.”
Find out the Fantasy
For anyone that are prepared for Dirty Talk 201, porn star Kendra Sunderland believes entering Fantasyland is a great method to within the ante. Bringing dreams to the bed room and sharing them together produces a feeling of closeness and another style of variety of safety that may start the entranceway to more sex that is adventurous.
“I like being told that I’m being fully a dirty woman or perhaps a slut,” says Sunderland. “You need certainly to communicate to see exacltly what the partner’s fantasies are. It’s a fantastic method to relieve into dirty talk.” To be clear, nevertheless, it is Sunderland’s very own particular dream. Every girl’s dream is different, so that you’d want to uncover what your lover’s is, in the place of presuming just exactly exactly what she would like to hear.
It’s additionally an idea that is good try to coach your lover through dirty talk, particularly if they truly are a new comer to it. “A man will make their partner much more comfortable when you are assertive, along with offering compliments. It’s essentially coaching her into it after which telling her exactly how he likes it,” claims porn star Alana Luv. “Ask your partner to share with you what she’s dealing with and exactly exactly what she wishes you to definitely do in order to her. Mentor her involved with it.”
Ease involved with it
Just dealing with chatting dirty is oftentimes sufficient getting somebody raring to get. Nevertheless, just like any such thing intimate, starting to warm up is a giant an element of the experience. Therefore the more foreplay that is verbal have actually, the higher the build-up, and also the better the production.
“Try saying a couple of things while you’re setting up to check out just how she responds,” says Sunderland. “You usually takes it after that. By asking her how she likes it if you’re going down on her, ease into it. Have her be vocal about items that she likes. Perhaps don’t instantly start calling her a slut, but take to one thing tame that you could focus on.”
Establish an Arsenal of Key Phrases
For novices simply getting started, think about having a keywords that are few your Rolodex to constantly come back to if you think like you’re rambling, or don’t know very well what to express. Learning exactly exactly exactly what key words or psychological pictures turn you in could be a way that is great keep consitently the dialog engaging.
“Try things such as, ‘You like this, child?’ or ‘Does which make you hot?’” offers porn celebrity Vicki Chase. “Feel free to use dozens of slutty terms that we don’t frequently utilize. The bed room must be a zone that is safe. You need celebrities porn vidoes to feel safe along with your partner and when you are doing you can keep practicing and building.”
The Guy’s Guide To Kinky Intercourse:
Use Visuals
In the event that you along with your partner are both confident with it, often viewing porn together could be a smart way to set the feeling and offer an awareness from what precisely will be able to work verbally. For instance, if there is a porn celebrity you prefer whom makes use of language you are into, you can view it along with your gf and mention to her how much that sort of talk turns you in. Ask her if she’d be thinking about attempting it. This way she can tune in to particular examples she can have a basic template of where to start that you like so. Find a porn this is certainly your street and recommend both you and your partner view it together.
Training Makes Perfect
It may appear extremely stupid and uncomfortable to train speaking dirty to your self within the mirror, however, if you’re after all stressed about stepping as much as the mic during intercourse, this is often extremely of good use. The more you exercise doing or saying one thing, the greater normalized it becomes as well as the less nervous you’ll be within the minute. Yes, this is certainly also real with regards to dealing with your blank blank inside her blank blank, and on occasion even her blanking blank blank, if you believe you can manage it.
“A significant problem that dudes have actually is that they’re afraid of saying things themselves or of sounding stupid, therefore exercising all on your own is a very good clear idea,” says Sunderland. “Practicing any such thing makes perfect. It may appear ridiculous, but if you’ll need assist having the words away, this can offer you more self-confidence.”
Provide reinforcements that are positive
Should your partner is more vanilla into the bedroom, but she’s ready to try down this out to you, you intend to make certain she seems comfortable and safe. The thing that is last wish to accomplish would be to make her feel more self-conscious. Therefore if she’s ready to get the length and simply take by by herself outside her safe place to ensure that you achieve yours, she actually is a pretty great girl and you desire her to feel good about by by herself.
“why is me personally open up the absolute most gets good affirmation as well as the feeling like I’m doing a great task,” says Sunderland. “If you intend to relieve your lover involved with it, you are able to show up with concerns to inquire about her. That it will probably get her speaking on her behalf own and quickly she’ll assume control for the show. if she likes doing”
“It’s so essential to help make your spouse feel safe,” adds Luv. “Give her a great deal of compliments. Tell her she’s therefore sexy. After that it shall just get hotter. Ask her if she’s likely to come. Moan loudly. It will be loved by both parties. With both you and safe with you, you are likely to turn the timid woman to the noisy woman. if she seems protected”
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Methods to Talk Dirty Such As For Instance a Porn Star, as Told By Porn Stars
Methods to Talk Dirty Such As For Instance a Porn Star, as Told By Porn Stars
Experiencing tongue-tied? We consulted professionals about how to up your game
If the word “dirty talk” fills you with palpable anxiety, do not feel too bad — lots of people have the in an identical way. Dirty talk is messy company. It is not simple to be susceptible, and referring to your intimate dreams efficiently provides your lover a huge, gaping screen into the personal globe. Even though your chosen porn movie movie stars ensure it is look really easy, in terms of really operating the show yourself, stage fright is bound to ensue. Happily we spoke to a few porn stars, like Alison Tyler, Kendra Sunderland, Alana Luv, and Vicki Chase, to get their tips for taking your bedroom dirty talk to the next level, or at least a notch above wildly awkward and uncomfortable for you. Listed below are methods for just how to talk dirty such as for instance a porn star.
The Talk Prior To The Talk
A sexual soliloquy on your partner in the middle of sex can go one of two ways: really well, or really poorly if you’ve never forayed into the world of dirty talk, springing. So that it’s frequently an idea that is good speak about talking beforehand if you’re nervous about throwing that ingredient to the mix.
“You don’t have actually to get into details immediately, but finding out just exactly exactly exactly what the convenience degree is beforehand then attempting things when you look at the minute is really a good option to go,” says previous porn star Alison Tyler. “Also, if one thing didn’t feel right or some body didn’t like one thing, be truthful along with your partner. Honesty could be the road to higher sex.”
A idea that is good broaching the topic may be just to pose a question to your partner if you are doing precisely what she likes during intercourse. Ask her if she is pleased. Ask her to inform you what you could fare better. From then on, you are able to inform her it turns you in to know her provide suggestions, and ask her if possibly she would not mind integrating that into the minute. Go on it after that to see just just just how it goes. (of course you want much more recommendations, check always our course out on how best to please a female.)
Simple is Sexy
Just like such a thing intimate, overthinking most commonly it is the very first issue. That which we see in television while the films is generally a version that is highly exaggerated of. And that’s particularly so in terms of porn. Therefore while your porn that is favorite star jour is monologuing her brains away, you’re sitting here worried that you’ll never ever manage to keep in mind dozens of lines if it is your change within the limelight. But be confident, claims Tyler: simple is sexy.
“I feel just like many guys overthink dirty talk,” she says. “Guys feel a great deal stress with regards to saying just the right thing rather than saying the incorrect thing. They have been afraid of saying something very wrong and then destroying intercourse forever. He has held it certainly easy. for me personally, the greatest times that I’ve been with some guy is whenever”
Including, Tyler likes it when guys compliment her body, or inform her how her body feels with theirs. “Tell me personally everything you enjoy, or what you will enjoy a lot more of. Being descriptive into the brief minute keeps them from overcooking it.”
Find out the Fantasy
For anyone that are prepared for Dirty Talk 201, porn star Kendra Sunderland believes entering Fantasyland is a great method to within the ante. Bringing dreams to the bed room and sharing them together produces a feeling of closeness and another style of variety of safety that may start the entranceway to more sex that is adventurous.
“I like being told that I’m being fully a dirty woman or perhaps a slut,” says Sunderland. “You need certainly to communicate to see exacltly what the partner’s fantasies are. It’s a fantastic method to relieve into dirty talk.” To be clear, nevertheless, it is Sunderland’s very own particular dream. Every girl’s dream is different, so that you’d want to uncover what your lover’s is, in the place of presuming just exactly exactly what she would like to hear.
It’s additionally an idea that is good try to coach your lover through dirty talk, particularly if they truly are a new comer to it. “A man will make their partner much more comfortable when you are assertive, along with offering compliments. It’s essentially coaching her into it after which telling her exactly how he likes it,” claims porn star Alana Luv. “Ask your partner to share with you what she’s dealing with and exactly exactly what she wishes you to definitely do in order to her. Mentor her involved with it.”
Ease involved with it
Just dealing with chatting dirty is oftentimes sufficient getting somebody raring to get. Nevertheless, just like any such thing intimate, starting to warm up is a giant an element of the experience. Therefore the more foreplay that is verbal have actually, the higher the build-up, and also the better the production.
“Try saying a couple of things while you’re setting up to check out just how she responds,” says Sunderland. “You usually takes it after that. By asking her how she likes it if you’re going down on her, ease into it. Have her be vocal about items that she likes. Perhaps don’t instantly start calling her a slut, but take to one thing tame that you could focus on.”
Establish an Arsenal of Key Phrases
For novices simply getting started, think about having a keywords that are few your Rolodex to constantly come back to if you think like you’re rambling, or don’t know very well what to express. Learning exactly exactly exactly what key words or psychological pictures turn you in could be a way that is great keep consitently the dialog engaging.
“Try things such as, ‘You like this, child?’ or ‘Does which make you hot?’” offers porn celebrity Vicki Chase. “Feel free to use dozens of slutty terms that we don’t frequently utilize. The bed room must be a zone that is safe. You need celebrities porn vidoes to feel safe along with your partner and when you are doing you can keep practicing and building.”
The Guy’s Guide To Kinky Intercourse:
Use Visuals
In the event that you along with your partner are both confident with it, often viewing porn together could be a smart way to set the feeling and offer an awareness from what precisely will be able to work verbally. For instance, if there is a porn celebrity you prefer whom makes use of language you are into, you can view it along with your gf and mention to her how much that sort of talk turns you in. Ask her if she’d be thinking about attempting it. This way she can tune in to particular examples she can have a basic template of where to start that you like so. Find a porn this is certainly your street and recommend both you and your partner view it together.
Training Makes Perfect
It may appear extremely stupid and uncomfortable to train speaking dirty to your self within the mirror, however, if you’re after all stressed about stepping as much as the mic during intercourse, this is often extremely of good use. The more you exercise doing or saying one thing, the greater normalized it becomes as well as the less nervous you’ll be within the minute. Yes, this is certainly also real with regards to dealing with your blank blank inside her blank blank, and on occasion even her blanking blank blank, if you believe you can manage it.
“A significant problem that dudes have actually is that they’re afraid of saying things themselves or of sounding stupid, therefore exercising all on your own is a very good clear idea,” says Sunderland. “Practicing any such thing makes perfect. It may appear ridiculous, but if you’ll need assist having the words away, this can offer you more self-confidence.”
Provide reinforcements that are positive
Should your partner is more vanilla into the bedroom, but she’s ready to try down this out to you, you intend to make certain she seems comfortable and safe. The thing that is last wish to accomplish would be to make her feel more self-conscious. Therefore if she’s ready to get the length and simply take by by herself outside her safe place to ensure that you achieve yours, she actually is a pretty great girl and you desire her to feel good about by by herself.
“why is me personally open up the absolute most gets good affirmation as well as the feeling like I’m doing a great task,” says Sunderland. “If you intend to relieve your lover involved with it, you are able to show up with concerns to inquire about her. That it will probably get her speaking on her behalf own and quickly she’ll assume control for the show. if she likes doing”
“It’s so essential to help make your spouse feel safe,” adds Luv. “Give her a great deal of compliments. Tell her she’s therefore sexy. After that it shall just get hotter. Ask her if she’s likely to come. Moan loudly. It will be loved by both parties. With both you and safe with you, you are likely to turn the timid woman to the noisy woman. if she seems protected”
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