Devs (2020)

There are some really beautiful things happening in Alex Garland's miniseries Devs. What it has to say about humanity is kind of profound. How it gets there though is a rather heady theoretical physics sci-fi lesson. And I didn't really follow it all the way through. I barely understood enough to get the ending. The show overall is extremely slow. I don't think they really needed 8 episodes. Kenton is really absolutely necessary to the core plot; he's more of a distraction. The acting is also really robotic, probably intentionally so. Nick Offerman is certainly cast against type in a dramatic role; it's didn't quite work for me just because we know Ron Swanson and I can't dissociate him from that character.  It's all really unsettling--the sound design, the set, the giant statue of Amaya that never really plays a part but to show how weird this place is.

Hadestown (Broadway)

I was very impressed by Hadestown. It's a beautiful production. I love Orpheus and Eurydice and it's a pretty straight retelling. But the Tonys performance didn't really inspire me to want to buy tickets. I think it was a poor representation of the show. They probably sang the most hummable number, but it's far from the best, as I'm sure Sondheim could tell you. Great music doesn't have to be memorable; it is incredibly moving nonetheless. I loved the 7-piece orchestra on stage including fiddle, cello, bass, drums, trombone/glockenspiel, piano/accordion, and guitar. They play jazz, New Orleans style. There is a funny equating of the underworld and New Orleans and hell and jazz. Persephone is dressed in her best Mardi Gras outfit. I don't love the coal mining costumes, but they work in context. And at the end of Act I when the set transforms, I was blown away.

The cast was phenomenal. Eva Noblezada as Eurydice and Patrick Page as the deep-bass-voiced Hades stand out. Page's voice is hypnotically good. Unfortunately, Andre de Shields was not performing so we had an understudy who made the character of Hermes his own. He's not as old, maybe saunters a little less. I thought Jewelle Blackman as Persephone was also fantastic. I don't know how she compares to Amber Gray, but I'm very happy for her getting the promotion from Fate to Persephone. She knocks it out of the park. I'm not really a fan of Reeve Carney (but I also feel kind of bad that he's the only one that didn't get a Tony nomination). His singing is fine, but he plays a very awkward Orpheus. It's definitely a choice. He plays guitar, not exactly a lyre.

The first act felt really long. I think it's because there were several songs that felt like Act I finales. The actual Act I finale was actually not that climactic. And for much of the first act, probably the first forty minutes or so, everyone is on stage, perpetually acting, never exiting. Even Hades, sits on the balcony, back facing the audience. The play actually starts without warning when everyone rushes onto the stage to take their places. The second act is stronger in my opinion. It's just breathtaking. There are some plot points that are a little vague. It's not really clear what choice Eurydice has to make, because we're not familiar with what happens when you die. You "take a train" (the horn is a recurring motif, I guess the River Styx isn't as sonic) to the Underworld, but what if she didn't sign the contract, then what? What is the benefit of working for Hades? And what work are they doing exactly? And what is this Wall they keep singing about? Does Hell have Walls? The Wall as a metaphor for the Southern border works presciently though. It is a hellscape delusion that walls make us free.