Rest in Peace Alan Rickman 1946-2016

What started as a normal, thirteen in a dozen kind of day ended in shock.

Alan Rickman, long time member of my band of heroes had died that morning, news arrived in an e-mail from a friend saying "you've probably heard the news about Alan Rickman's passing. I'm heartbroken. Just wanted to touch base and share my grief".

I had not heard or read about it yet, and went online straight away in hopes of the news being false… one of those hoax articles but it soon turned out to be true… the BBC does not do hoax...

I'm shellshocked.

Not many things hit me so hard that it leads to tears, I had no personal relation with mr Rickman, I've been a long time admirer of his body of work which made him part of my personal band of heroes. Heroes are supposed to be immortal, we think they will be there for all time. It hurts to realize they are not.

Metatron (Dogma), Hans Gruber (Die Hard), Colonel Brandon (Sense and Sensibility), the Sheriff of Nottingham (Robin Hood), He (Song of Lunch), Judge Turpin (Sweeney Todd) to just name a few in the diverse roles, all filmed to revisit at will. I was lucky enough to be awed as well by his stage work. Twice I jumped on a plane and flew out to various stages in Dublin and New York just for the opportunity to see him go back to his stage roots. I'm fortunate that I can make these decisions, for members of my little band of heroes I go to great lengths to see them work on stage, and I'm very glad that I did for mr Rickman. Such a talent, Stage presence to the hilt and that voice… oh that voice.

I had hoped to get another chance, to see his Lear, his take on Beckett, Pinter, another Ibsen, or perhaps one of his own original works, but it's not to be.

I was familiar with most of his work, but I did not know much about the person, other than that he was certainly very nice to - and patient with - his fans at stage door.  In the last few days I've learned so much more about him. His friends, compatriots and coworkers took to the web and spoke beautiful words about their lost friend. They say he was funny, friendly, down to earth, the best of friends that always took the time to help, support and simply be there when they needed him. Who took an interest in their work, went to their plays, exhibits, arranged auditions. A private person, I learned he was in a relationship for 50 years with his wife, a man who was devoted, passionate, politically and socially engaged. A person anybody would be proud to call friend. The suddenness of this news made it feel unreal, and yet now, three days later I can feel some sort of consolation that until the end he could be the private person that he was. No rumors, no public displays. "Alan Rickman has died at the age of 69", it dropped like a bomb and rightly so.

I was mourning the loss of my hero, now I am also mourning the loss of the person. I feel deeply for all those that knew the real Alan Rickman, my deepest sympathies and heartfelt condoleances for his wife Rima, and his friends and family.

I hope I am the friend to my friends as he was to his, but I know I am probably not. If anything, this new knowledge of the man behind the artist I so admired, inspires me to try harder.


Epic Tea Time with Alan Rickman (Official HD Version)

Scored by: Music from Inception - Mind Heist Created by: David Michalek Description: The film of Alan Rickman is from the project, Portraits in Dramatic Time…

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Links to some of the public tributes
Michael Billington - Alan Rickman a master of theatre who looked back in languor

Sean Biggerstaff
Daniel Radcliffe
JK Rowling
Emma Thompson
Ian McKellen
Stanley Tucci
Richard Curtis
Neil Kinnock

Patrick Stewart; Kate Winslet; Helen Mirren; Emma Thompson; Ian McKellen; Sigourney Weaver; Richard Wilson; Brian Cox; Ruby Wax; Harriet Walter; Stephen Poliakoff; Max Stafford-Clark; Zoe Wannamaker; Catherine Bailey; Janet Suzman

Gabriel Byrne and August Osage County

Gabriel Byrne and August Osage County pages added to Geeksareus.nl

Gabriel Byrne
Gotta love his d'Artagnan in The Man In the Iron Mask. I'd never really took notice of the man's work before, apart from "The Usual Suspects" but that movie is so mindboggling story wise the actors doing such a great job with it didn't really register with me individually.
I decided to have a look at his work, past and future. The fun part of something like this happening is that actors often have such an eclectic body of work there are bound to be little known gems in there. This was certainly true with Gabriel Byrne... I'd recommend "Into the West" for one... or "Weapons of Mass Distraction" a completely different genre and even artistic merit but very enjoyable, or "Miller's Crossing", "Last of the High Kings", "Smilla's Sense of Snow" and "A Polish Wedding"  the list goes on... and while I am at it "The Poetry of William Butler Yeats" in audiobook, not to be missed if you want to get into the works of Gabriel Byrne.

This Dublin borne, LA based actor is more mainstream these days if not for "The Usual Suspects" a few years ago then certainly for the tv show "In Treatment". I'm happy that I had already added him to my list of 'bodies of work to be collected' years ago...


August: Osage County

Eventually I will retrace all plays on the site in their own dedicated review blog, for now just a few impressions.


So first time in Chicago, first time Steppenwolf, first preview of this brand new play, over 3 hours of excellent entertainment. Maybe not the perfect choice fresh off the plane with a jet lagged mind but excellent none the less. We witnessed a hit in the making! such good memories...

Having just come off a plane from Europe that afternoon, picking up the tickets at box office it was a bit of a shock when the lady said "you do know this is a 3,5 hour play?"… that'll teach me to look at play details before booking tickets for my first night in town!

Thus we came back to the theater after dinner a little apprehensive on the long evening awaiting us with this very new unknown play. A long evening it turned out to be, but an exciting one! We had the good fortune to see the very first preview of this play, actors still getting a feel for it but it already stood firm, the plot was highly entertaining, not a dull moment in those 3,5 hours. and the acting! here's where the worth of an ensemble really comes in, many of the cast were Steppenwolf ensemble members, I think the fact that this complex, exhausting (to the actors) play simply clicked in this first preview ever can be chalked up to the ensemble familiarity. 

Special mention to Deanna Dunagan, not an ensemble member, so above mentioned ensemble benefit reasoning is already disputed somewhat, because did she give a fantastic performance! some images of her Violet have made such an impression on me, I can play them back in my mind second by second, and this is a play I saw 5 years ago!

I'm not exaggerating I think in saying the whole cast gave a fabulous performance, it's really not fair to single some people out.  Having had a chance to talk to a few of them over time about this play made me realize how gracious Chicago actors can be with their time, in my experience most are honestly bemused to baffled  that we the audience even want to talk to them in person or discuss the play. to them it's their job, a job that they love but not something they think we'd be interested in much above and beyond seeing the result on stage.

I for one am interested...