Also Dylan pressuring Joe to stop being coy and say whether he thinks Chris and Jake would get together and him relenting but petulantly being like “Then Jake dies, and where would that leave Chris?” noooo 😭 But yeah I obviously haven’t seen the play but from all that people talk about it being bleak, just reading the script I feel like it’s pretty hopeful?

I think Joe mentioned in Tobie’s Q&A that the only thing that was changed in the script was the FB reference in the final scene being changed to “online” because no one uses FB. And then Tobie called Joe out and says that HE uses FB lol which was a fun bit of lore.

The other very minor change seems to be that in the original script, it specifies that Jake and Chris are wearing their Costco vests throughout the entire play, and only take them off for the final beach scene? But at less from the promo photo and clips it seems that is not the case for this production.

On the fans who’ve been going every other day, yeah idk exactly, obviously no one owes fellow fans a thorough report-back on every show, but they do post a lot about going and then seem to be purposefully cryptic about things, like even the stage door convos lol. (one of them got into a wee bit of drama with fans early on so maybe that put them off)

you’re so sweet thank you anon😭😭😭😭 hahahah prob being a former literature student i cant help but analyse the storyline and how the performances elevate it and being able to analyse one of my fav actors work was such a plus i cant help but absorb it allll!!! i forgot to mention that there was one part one of the audience from the stall had to leave??? they basically removed themselves from their seat and idk i could literally see joes eyes being all 👀 or it could possibly be a character thing lol but it was cute hahahaha and oh i forgot to mention my brother also praised all of them as to how they were able to code switch (he mostly meant their accents) from american to british since we also listened to their qna lol

ohmy god yessss the finaaaaaal scene where they’re at the beach, the lighting really made it look like it was a sunset/sunrise with mix of orange and blue and yes it was genuinely stunning ahahhaha another beautiful thing i realised was how pretty it made joes eyes look hahahaha and yeahhhh i felt like the story was overall still hopeful like yes jakes diagnoses seems bleak but chris, hes not an optimistic person but hes a realist and seems very adaptable bcos of how he grew up with his mum and he was the one who mentioned to jake like what if you dont have to do HUGE discoveries to make an impact like william and clark? like small actions can make an impact too snd i think they can definitely move romantically as a result and i feel like even when jakes condition is expected to deteriorate, chris would be there to support him how he needs to be supported altho i can also imagine some conflict might happen in a sense that chris technically had to be an adult with his mum around and jake might feel bad thinking he needs to be “taken care of” bt i can imagine chris being all puhleaseee if i didnt like it i wouldnt do it hahaaha

They only wore the costco vests when they were clearly working tho and there was definitely differentiation in terms of when they’re not working cause they’re wearing their casual jackets and stuff

Very cool that you got to see a Q&A though, better and less stressful than stage door imo. Seeing Dylan dressed as Joe on the TL sent me lol, he really has a very specific aesthetic. That Agatha hat + purple cardigan + denim jacket have seen so much

glad you asked cause i was gonna share heheheheh but do forgive me cause i feel like my head is just wooooooh with stuff and so dont mind if it sounds messy HAHAHAHA but oh gosh joes performance is beautiful like genuinely amazing where he brings you exactly to what his character is feeling which i thought was tricky especially compared to ruaridh and sophies character which is more fleshed out and has a solid conflict that you can hang onto. but joes character is not as straightforward i feel, he has a disease yes but he is also very privileged which makes chris confused as to why jake is doing this to himself and technically jake does have an answer which is he never really had anything difficult to overcome. his parents were accepting of his sexuality, obviously had no issues with what he wanted to study and could clearly afford it and seems like he could afford his meds too and a supporting dad at least but he wanted purpose and to make a mark but chris is just baffled as to why hes making things difficult for himself bcos things for chris has always been difficult.

and basically joe emotes the confusion and complication really really well through his facial expressions and his vocal intonations especially the range of it really makes you feel what hes feeling so you’re basically on the journey with him. he started out with a plan got stuck tried to make do with the circumstance and basically got pulled apart by chris quite a bit which made him break when he called himself fcked up and at that point in the play you can tell he felt lost then of course chris issue with his mum i guess made him realise that oh no guess we’re both fcked so why not help each other and it ends in a hopeful manner! joe also has amazing comedic timing AND his voice adds to it. There was one moment where he made a funny weird sound to reflect his fead while ruaridhs character was reading his own story to him and i THINK ruaridh broke character a bit from the way he burst out laughing but reigned himself in quickly. so yeah joes character could have easily fallen flat from the way its written i feel but joe excelled and created dimensions from his facial and and voice. oh especially there was this moment where ruaridhs Chris just kept screaming at him saying he doesn’t care and joe was just still bt his face and body language said a lot

ruaridhs performance was great too! I’ve always thought when reading the play his storyline was very meaty hahaha which can be a good and a bad thing the good thing is he emoted really well as well but for me personally i felt like maybe cause of the lack of his vocal variations it seems to go back and forth between mad(anger) to chill witty or the middle in which he sounds exasperated. Not saying its bad by any means! He definitely did the script justice and i think the writing was helpful in that sense cause compared to joe, joe has more running lines i feel? But i think that forced joe to be more varied which adds to his performance!

sophie no notes honestly, despite her having only a few scenes i feel like her character felt so big and impactful and the first thing my brother said when i asked what he thought of the play was “the lady is really good” hahahah so there!