#drama on 3

[sarahthecoat]

just finished listening to this lovely radio drama, inspired by Under Milkwood (which is also available to listen, link in first note)

[mann-walter]

When We Dead Awaken

By accident (“accident” as in scrolling through Twitter), I found BBC Radio 3’s 31 March broadcast of Ibsen’s “When We Dead Awaken” a couple days ago. It became a study session soundtrack in an instant.

It was my first ever experience of Ibsen’s work (or an adaptation of it), and I liked it although I think the ideas represented in the drama are no novelty for us living in this century (I haven’t been able to get my hands on the Michael Meyer translation so I can’t speak for the text itself). I like the symbolism, especially the mountain-climbing and seeing the glories of the world bit. I think it’s an obvious metaphor for living your life to the fullest.

Putting the climax in that context, I see Maia and Ulfheim representing people who take the chance to do so immediately as it comes and make the most of it, while Rubek and Irena are of another camp that finally comes to the conclusion but is far too late. They catch up with the former, yes, but when the time calls them to climb down, to settle with life I suppose, they still frantically try to go up and get killed because of it.

I haven’t decided what the “nun” (who’s actually a “deaconess”) is supposed to represent. The shadow of a consuming death of the spirit? Maybe that’s why she tails Irena in a symbolic sense.

PS: The audio format is great in conveying the implicit messages. My mind can immediately jump to where it needs to thus making interpretation easier for me.

[hattie-morahan]

Set in a military outpost off the coast of Sweden, the Captain and his wife Alice embark on a series of spiteful games in an attempt to alleviate the hell they’ve created for themselves. Events take a new and disturbing turn when Kurt, a divisive figure from their past, arrives back on the scene.

The Captain ….. Robert Glenister Alice ….. Hattie Morahan Kurt ….. Blake Ritson

Piano performed by Peter Ringrose Directed by Gemma Jenkins

Written in 1900 Strindberg originally intended to call this dissection of a marriage gone bad, The Vampire. The story twists and turns around the febrile energy given off by this trio of characters as they each feed off the unhappiness of the other.

Broadcast date: 19 March 2023 

This will be uploaded to our Audio Archive once it’s aired.

[emotinalsupportturtle]

David Tennant being a lifelong Doctor Who fan who was inspired by the show to act, becoming the Doctor and Ncuti Gatwa who watched David Tennant and was inspired to act, playing the Doctor opposite David’s Doctor is the most beautiful thing

[yourangle-yuordevil]

Local goth cryptid goes through a tough breakup 😔

[frejs-froggy-artblog]

Really needed to draw Yona I think she'd be besties with Link

[ayo-edebiri]

Am I the drama? I don't think I'm the drama. Maybe I am. Am I the villain? I don't think I'm the villain. 

[meltedmush]

[stump-not-found]

got a long-form comic/story i wanna do & wanted to have fun doing twins designs yaaaaaaaay

[jedi-starbird]

'Desert hermit Ben Kenobi develops a reputation as a crazy wizard because he keeps talking to thin air.'

No. This is Tatooine, talking to yourself is hardly the weirdest thing they've seen. Ben Kenobi, however, keeps having full on fucking screaming rows with thin air and seemingly gets replies back, which is decidedly a step up.

(They've managed to piece together that a major point of contention is the acquisition and raising of a child? Clearly Ben is a wizard that had a bitter divorce with a desert spirit and is working through a custody dispute)

[tojisun]

still thinking about childhood best friend simon and that lake house

thinking about how simon is so forceful at pushing your boyfriend out. he’d wake up early in the morning and shoot you throngs of messages, things like if you wanted to take a morning walk with him, and take the dogs out or something.

and when you roll over, plucking your chiming phone from the nightstand, ignoring your boyfriend’s grumbling, you see simon’s messages and think nothing of them.

(simon would never—you told your man; you told him that simon’s just clingy because it’s been years since the two of you met again, that simon’s a good man.

“please trust me?” you whispered, and he had to hold back his glower because of course he trusts you.

it’s simon he doesn’t trust, but it’s not like he could say anything when your parents adore simon; when your mom pinches simon’s cheek before giving him extra servings, or when your dad claps simon on the back, telling him how he’s grown so tall and how he dearly remembers when you used to tower over simon back in your youths.

simon’s so woven into your family so how could your boyfriend ever say anything against him? he’s fucking royalty at this point—beloved by everyone.

even your nephews stare at simon with starry eyes more than they do their own dad.)

so you agree to every little outing that simon proposes—morning walks, drive to the local shops, going to liquor stores together, completing errands alone for your family.

you tried to include your boyfriend but simon and him never got along, and you just got so tired of of trying. this is your long-awaited vacation, so why the hell are you playing telephone with your two boys?

so you divided your attention then, with how the two of them are so stubborn when it came to you.

but—

simon knows you. he knows how to catch your attention.

so night dates with your boyfriend turned into a hangout with simon inviting himself in. he would always walk with you two to your room, crash in the bean bags and ask what would you all watch tonight. or he would tug you all to the family game room and make up a game that would end in you and him teaming up against your boyfriend. or he would propose a night swim in the shallow ends of the lake, and it’s always his shirt that he’d hand to you when you get chilly.

it’s these little things that add up; little things that you never really questioned because you grew up with simon, you grew up doing all of these with him, but—

simon’s different now. he’s a lot taller, a lot broader. he’s a lot more beautiful than you ever remembered.

and something in your chest unfurls, choking the threads of your rationalization—

oh god.

(simon walked in on your boyfriend packing his bags, his chest heaving and his eyes red with tears. and all simon ever tells him is, “y’need a ride?” because finally.

finally the motherfucker got the hint.)

[fairweathermyth]

VELVET GOLDMINE dir. Todd Haynes, 1998 Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Brian Slade costume design by Sandy Powell

[mann-walter]

It's Just So, So Good: Radio Dramas and Our Relationship with Evil

I just “came back”—In truth, I’ve just turned off the audio, mid you without unplugging my hearing device—from listening to last Sunday’s Drama on 3, a double bill of Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s short plays: A Conversation at Night and An Incident at Twilight. Both were great productions, but the latter was especially wonderful.

I may be biased because though I like socio-political commentaries, I love philosophical thrillers, mysteries, and police procedurals. I like a crime story that speaks about the world and not only the immediate case at hand (maybe that’s why I like Taggart more than Law & Order). An Incident at Twilight is that!

The premise is not new, I suppose, after thrillers became popular one and half centuries ago: a series of crime novels is allegedly a collection of true stories, and its writer is the murderer(s) in them. But instead of simply revealing whether or not he really is or enacting a cheap, head-scratching plot twist as I at first predicted, it turned into a conversation on our (sometimes, over-) fascination with evil, our hunger for sensation and thrill, and as simple as our leniency toward problematic artists.

Both works discussed this fascination with evil that sustains the same despicable persons we may condemn with our mouths. The first play hovers around it briefly, zooming in on people’s curiosity, even admiration, for political power and evil. As a former Interbellum political history enthusiast and a Tumblr user who wandered off too far once, I know very well that it is still a contemporary topic, and evil can intrigue even the most consciously opposed to it.

The second play was devoted entirely to the topic, though with a different focus: why do we subconsciously think that evil is cool? How come that the more controversial the artist is the higher interest they gain? And, why in God’s green Earth are we so lenient on debauched artists? I don’t think it is a rallying call to cancel problematic artists, nor is it an introduction to a newly observed phenomenon. It is a truth of the day-to-day we know but often forget.

Our fascination with evil is probably, partially, why gangster-rapper-wannabees exist within affluent and rather happy environments, why gangster-rappers themselves are still being much adored, why anything will sell when you slap “Hitler” on it, and why admiration for evil regimes is still prevalent even without communities of ideologues.

An Incident at Twilight ended very ironically, for us listeners especially. We felt safe from the guiles of evil after being made aware of it only to be impressed by that absolutely gorgeous ending and that absolutely terrifying but brilliant madman.

PS: YES, it is another Ian McDiarmid radio drama. I think most of them, as far as I know, are good, although some stand out like this little one here that I think is a little better than The Remains of the Day which I’ve listened to twice or thrice (I’m into melancholic shit). So, for all of you who miss Ian McDiarmid going full cerebral villain, this double bill entitled Different Truths is the one for you.

P. PS: I drafted this post a week ago.

[beamattack]

september in tartarus

[georgiacooked]

TMA episode sketch: Episode 3, Across The Street.

[sad-leon]

Forehead kiss for any of the turtles?

twimns <3

i wanted to have a whole 5+1 type of thing but did not think it would be interested enough to force myself to draw it all akdjfalsjd

maybe if i finish one of the other sketches ill post it later <3