A Place, a Time

An experiment in blogging.

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Spoilers for Yellowjackets Season 2, Ep 2, as well as The Song of Achilles and Greek Mythology.

So I was talking about The Song of Achilles recently, and it got me thinking about YJ and specifically Shauna's grief and how she expresses it with Jackie's body..

For those who don't know, The Song of Achilles is a queer retelling of the Illiad - or just a retelling, since some scholars argue that the original is queer. (Not the point.)

When Achilles' lover Patroclus dies (after a disagreement between them), Achilles refuses to let his body be burned. He allows the wounds to be cleaned, but keeps the body in his tent, embracing it and weeping - until Patroclus himself comes to Achilles in a dream and asks that his body be burned.

(He also kills Hector, the Trojan who killed Patroclus, and keeps his body as well - dragging it around behind a chariot and infuriating the Trojans. My guy had a thing about bodies I guess)

I just thought it was an interesting thought, especially with all the Greco-Roman visuals of episode 2/the feast. Plus, Shauna loves a Tragedy.

The other Greeks are very upset with what Achilles is doing, just as the other YJs are upset when they discover what Shauna has been doing with Jackie's body.

(If I have any details wrong, please forgive me and feel free to correct me - I don't have a copy of TSOA on hand, and I'm more familiar with The Odyssey than The Illiad.

I originally posted this on Reddit during the airing of S2. I cleaned it up a bit and am posting here.)

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Recently I did some reading on 9/11 because it came up in conversation, and I realized I didn’t know or remember much in detail about what happened. (And it turns out I talked to some family and my memories were false! Nice guess, brain, but not quite.)

And then, because I’m one of those THEATRE KIDS, I was thinking about the musical Come From Away, and then, Assassins (the musical).

Come From Away is about the town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada. When the North American Airspace was closed due to the attacks, 42 planes with 6,600 passengers were directed to the Gander International Airport (about 66% of the local population). Residents housed, fed, and entertained the grounded passengers for 6 days while the airspace reopened and flights were configured.

The opening number (“Welcome to the Rock”) is about the town, and the people, and about the moment people learned of the attacks. Interestingly - in my opinion - the song doesn’t name the moment. “Everybody in this room has a story about how they started that day.” “I’m sitting in my car…I’m in the staff room…I’m in the library…And I turn on the radio”. And they let you fill in the blanks of what they heard - what you heard - in that moment.

And it reminded me of Assassins (the musical). Assassins is about Presidential Assassinations (and attempts).

(Interesting aside, a Broadway production was set to start in late 2001, but was delayed until 2004 due to the material being seen as insensitive in the light of the attacks on the Twin Towers).

The penultimate number is called “Something Just Broke” - and similarly, its about people recounting the moment they heard that JFK had been shot, and when he passed. This song does name the moment in a refrain of “The Presidents Been Shot”, although the main singers focus on their little moment - “I was folding sheets - Lizzie’s sheet” "I was getting me a shoe shine” “I was halfway through correcting the exams”.

The other thing about both these pieces - while they are both about loss and collective grief, they’re also about collective strength. The facing of that loss, together. “If you’re hoping for a harbor then you’ll find an open door - to the ones who have come from away - welcome to the rock”. “Something to be mended / Something we’ll have to weather / Bringing us all together / If only for a moment”. “Welcome to the land where the winters tried to kill us / And we said: We will not be killed!”

Just have found both of these songs really interesting, and I’m sure I’m not the only person to contrast them in this way. Both of these moments - JFK’s assassination and the 9/11 terrorist attacks- are very historically significant and I’ve heard people say that they were points of change in American culture as a whole. I only see the events in the rearview mirror (even though I was born before 9/11).

And now that I’ve rambled on, here are videos of the two songs I discussed. I hope you find them as interesting as I do. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Welcome to the Rock - Come From Away (Song starts at 2:00) https://youtu.be/UH-ozsBI570

Something Just Broke - Assassins https://youtu.be/cbzAWU4P4Kk

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Ride the Cyclone: In defense of Uranium Suite

"Ride the Cyclone" is a musical about death, and love, and choices.

Writing is also about death, and love, and most of all, choices.

One significant (publicly visible) choice in the writing of "Ride the Cyclone" was in the opening ensemble number. The show has had a few as its worked through the refining process.

(Theatre is never really done - its created every night, in front of the audience. But this is about the writing.)

The two most well known opening ensemble numbers, as far as I'm aware, are "Fall Fair Suite" and "Uranium Suite". FFS appeared in one of the most popular productions (and bootlegs), while US appeared on the soundtrack and productions going forward.

Online, I've seen a lot of folks prefer FFS. And its a great number! I really like it, and I wish it was included on the soundtrack as a bonus track. (Shout out to "Be Safe, Be Good" and "A World Inside" - I love both of them)

But I think "Uranium Suite" better fits the show, the characters, and the journey of it all. (Naturally, spoilers for the entirety of "Ride the Cyclone" below.)

Most of the characters want to escape Uranium:

Ocean wants to be the first female Prime Minister of Canada (which would take her to Ottawa)

Noel wants to move to France (and travel in time)

Mischa wants to return to Ukraine

Ricky wants to embrace his destiny as the savior of Zolar

Constance reminds them all about the beautiful things they experienced in their lives, and in Uranium. And this is where the show ends - with them appreciating each other, and their experiences of their short lives - including the joy they felt on the Cyclone before the accident.

"Fall Fair Suite" has a lot of bitterness about their deaths, and the things they did or didn't do. "What a load of freaking junk!" "Dead, we're done! There's no undoing! // Nothing left to do except to rot!" "Algebra 12, kiss my ass!" "How can this be fair?!"

"Uranium Suite" is all about Uranium City - it starts in the actual choral performance, with all the cheesy love and endearment you would expect from a high school choir teacher. But then it shifts to the crash - but its also about the failing state of Uranium City. "The smart ones all packed up and went" "Empty streets of empty shops // shuttered rows of Mom and Pops" "Build yourself a funeral pyre" "We'll never leave this town alive".

Constance is the one who takes them to her Sugar Cloud - and ultimately, this is the comfort that allows them to send Penny Lamb on her way and face the unknown of what comes next.