hermionecantdraw

of course you as the audience can't help emma even as she begs for you to, it's just a show, and it was fucking phenomenal so you are cheering. BUT so are the actors, who in the context of the story are the infected. and in the context of the story YOU are there too, cheering along with them. YOU are infected.

i think this is why inevitable and the ending as a whole make me sick to my stomach in a way my words will never adequately describe. we watch as the apotheosis strips paul and the others of their individuality, turning the world into one big musical number, and we are comfortable viewing it all from an audience perspective. but when emma cries to YOU, something shifts. the wall is broken. everything about the show is perfectly set up so that by the end you will be whooping and applauding at a character that so desperately needs your help.

it's set up so that you can initially feel you are in line with the heroes of the story, only for it to put you in the same position as the villain. because maybe in reality that isn't as uncommon of a circumstance as you might think. how often do we dismiss ourselves all the while viewing tragedy from a comfortable audience seat, treating it as a spectacle? i believe this is the question the show wants you to walk away with.

from emma's perspective in the original TGWDLM production its a moderately sized crowd of us against her (still terrifying), but in the west end theater it's this gigantic surging ocean of people all laughing at her desperation.

Board af Legacy Family Lines as Bracelets.

Where Snow sees the girl who tormented him, Haymitch sees the girl he’s still tormented over.

Where Snow sees the friend who didn’t think of him, Haymitch sees the friend he forgot.

Where Snow hears her song as a haunting tune, Haymitch hears it as literal music to his ears.

Where Snow sees her as a symbol to fear, Haymitch sees her as a symbol of hope.

Where Snow sees her as a past he can never forget, Haymitch sees her as the past he needs to remember.

i'm on the train that says, in hadestown's iteration, orpheus does not turn around because he loves eurydice, but because he has been corrupted by the hegemonic capitalist system.

consider the parallels between "wait for me" and "doubt comes in." in the latter, orpheus' melody fails to bring in a chorus or move stones or grow flowers like it did before. he repeats the. same. words. that the fates tried to break him with in the earlier song (who am i? where do i think i'm going? who am i? why am i all alone?), but back then the melody worked against them bc he still had innocence and hope. THEN he takes it a step further in the next verse and really internalizes his new experiences (who am i against him?...why would he let me win?) — & yeah he's really truly cooked atp :'(

(i read that the fates can represent the mass media and i'm so with that. they both praise and criticize the rulers, but always manipulate/bring down the poor. we know orpheus has lost when he listens to them.)

eurydice and orpheus switch places from beginning to finale with their arcs. she starts out cynical and then is the hopeful one, SHE raises up the backing vocals in "doubt comes in." he starts out optimistic, ends up cynical (last words before he turns: "i used to see the way the world could be, but now the way it is is all i see"). bc we need both optimism & a sense of reality to change the world.

hades knows he would turn around, but due to his doubt rather than his love. inside, he is sure that can not overcome his doubt for his love, and he sees this supposed inevitability take root in orpheus, too. but when the young couple full of promise dooms themselves, the older, jaded couple, seemingly hopeless, agrees to try again (they switch!).