#ghostinacardboardbox

[typed-tumbles]

text post by @valtsv. submitted by @ghostinacardboardbox

[theodysseyofhomer]

I wanted to ask if you have any favorite translations of the Odyssey? I’ve read the Emily Wilson version and loved it but I’m also a weirdo who gets way into picking apart differences in translation, and I figured I should ask you as you are The Expert Of All Time.

thank you, i'm just fucking around and finding out really, but the emily wilson version is a great starter in my opinion! she's broadly accessible to the modern ear.

the other odyssey translations i own are robert fitzgerald, robert fagles, and richmond lattimore. of the three, fitzgerald is my secret favorite (don't tell the others), probably because i read it first, in a class with a professor i loved and who loved the language so deeply. when i think of quotes, it is most often fitzgerald's translation i hear in my head. i do also like fagles, but i can't say lattimore's left a lasting impression. some more thoughts here.

also, not a translation, but derek walcott's play the odyssey is fascinating.

[melliotwrites]

If you had an unlimited budget for your shows, what would be something you would want to do? Like, was there anything in either taopp or adamandi that you would add or anything you would do differently if you didn’t have any restraints?

Great question! So far, we've been super lucky to have the resources we have had (Adamandi, especially, was pretty close to an ideal production for how we'd like it staged!) We did have to leave a few ideas on the cutting room floor, though, because of time/resource constraints. Here's a few fun ones from each show!

Adamandi

Marbing: We experimented with one or two different ways to achieve the 'Marble transformation' effect on the Marmorei and Ambrose during Me, Myself, and I, but if I had infinite money I would've loved to have them with whiteout contacts and a fleet of makeup artists waiting in the wings to make their skin more marble-colored (and cracked!) I'd also love if we could've done the same to Ambrose as he transformed (maybe with projections?)- we'll see for future productions! ~Mel

Saints: If I had dream-levels of SFX makeup, I've always sort of wanted the saints to start posed in front of stained glass windows, with their halos almost two dimensional and their faces already in profile- and then when they 'come to life' in Litany of the Martyrs, they turn their faces towards the audience and we see the other half of their faces is a heavily injured corpse- according to their martyrdom stories, of course. It would emphasize the message of the allure and revulsion of these stories, I think! ~Mel

The Skask (skin mask): We had an artful solution to the skin mask from our costume designer that looked amazing onstage (nylon stretched over a catcher's mask- which is also super fun because of Ambrose's jockliness)- but I've always dreamed of a hyperrealistic latex one, held together with stitches... just to make the audience really gasp when Vincent turns around in the final scene. ~Mel

MORE GHOSTS! In our original vision, we wanted more and more ghosts to join Vincent in Oh! Ms. Reporter, and wanted these ghosts to accumulate like the Marmorei as he kills more and more students. However, because many of the ghosts in Oh! Ms. Reporter had other roles, we couldn't have folks accumulate and join Vincent's ensemble. - Elliot

The Pyre: in our original conception of Vincent's pyre, it was built by the ghosts out of the set pieces onstage- literally taking apart the symbols of academia and burning oneself on them etc etc. We decided on this version of the pyre for cost and also legibility onstage, but wouldn't it be cool if it was a huge pile of desks, books, and chairs? -Mel

The Art of Pleasing Princes

This wasn't budget so much as the limitations of a college production, but more people in the cast/ensemble like Adamandi is something we're looking into for revisions! Having courtiers who are separate from the main 5 (and attendees at Rowan's party) would help clarify it and make those songs sound so much richer (while our cast is amazing, learning five-part harmony for all the group songs isn't really ideal) ~Mel

Similarly, we would love to have a bigger band (and more rehearsal time, obviously, to allow all the actors to memorize it and make it a fuller production!) - Elliot

With a fuller production it would also be fun to have more of a palace set that the characters could explore! I loved the different fabrics for the settings of the rooms, but having a luxurious Palace-style set with different backgrounds for everyone's rooms would be nice. I'd envision a set with either a sectioned-off part or a different level for character bedrooms. - Mel and Elliot

[mosthomoeroticenemies]

Curtwen propaganda so uhhh huge spoilers for Spies Are Forever (also mild warning for guns, death, and alcoholism)

Agent Curt Mega, standing face to face with his ex after four years and still loving him despite everything. Despite being tortured, despite having a gun in his face at this exact moment. Despite everything. Still blaming himself for everything that happened. Blaming himself for what Owen went through and blaming himself for who Owen became.

Agent Owen Carvour, standing face to face with his ex and holding him at gun point, swearing he’s going to enjoy this. He probably means it and doesn’t at the same time. Means it in the sense that he will shoot. Doesn’t in the sense that it’s debatable how much satisfaction it will bring him. All he wanted was to know that Curt hadn’t just left him behind, but that’s exactly what Curt did.

They stand there, and both know that only one of them is leaving.

And Owen mocks Curt, mocks him for the years he spent drinking himself half to death from grief. Mocks him for being unable to move on. Curt steps closer. Draws his weapon. And when Curt is asked what he’s doing, gun to Owen’s head, he says he’s moving on.

Curt had to grieve the love of his life twice, and know that he’s the one who killed him. Both times.

Also they’re gay spies which is just cool and deserves to win.

damn