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

Slowgirl - Chicago july 2013 part 3

Day three in Chicago, third play was the event I timed this trip for... PREVIEWS!

I'm in love with previews... when on a longer trip and an interesting play is in previews I try to fit in a few over the course of my trip.


First preview is always special, because it's the first real opportunity for the cast to try out their interpretation of the play on a live audience, the (part of the) audience that is aware of this special moment and pays special attention has a rare opportunity to see actors shaking off their first night jitters, getting used to each other in this space that is suddenly filled with more bodies than just the creative team. The room comes alive, the creative team gets to see if their choices connect with the audience... to me it's the magic of theater!

Then coming back a few times over the course of previews (best to see first and last preview in any case, and then one or two along the way), if you pay attention you get to see the small changes, the little things that actors unconsciously adopt, the difference that a different audience makes... some things that are funny to one audience, make no connection to another... it's fun to try and figure out why (from an outsiders pov... I'm sure the creative team has it's own analysis on things, I've never been privy to their 'notes' meetings, one of my 3 genie wishes would be to be a fly on the wall there).

Becky (Rae Gray) and Sterling (William Petersen)

On with the play of the day: SLOWGIRL

A small, 2 hand, one act, 90 minute play. William Petersen's trademark of late it seems.

"I don't understand why you're in
worse trouble than everyone else"

Slowgirl is a very introvert play, no emotional outburst until deep into the play. A middle aged man who has run away from his problems and settled in the jungle of Costa Rica, content or at least he has convinced himself he is content with his lone uncomplicated existence. Until his niece arrives, 17 years old, unfiltered teen Becky who is on the run from a tragic recent event in her life. Becky's retreat is meant to be temporary, Sterling aims to live out his life there.

"Have you met my tongue?"

Becky's unfiltered way of uttering whatever is in her head rattles Sterling at first, he has no idea how to handle this 17 year old outspoken, sexual being that he saw last when she was his cute 8 year old little niece.

Slowly he gets a grip on things, we see his development on stage, we see the development of Becky's versions of the truth of the event that got her to Costa Rica and we get Sterlings backstory and see him more or less forced to deal with his past as we - along with him - see a parallel to Becky's story.

I adored the play, it's such a subtle play, the actors can't hide behind big emotions, big gestures, big sets or a big cast. They are 'naked' (no props to speak of) and have to engage us by skill and emotion. Both William Petersen and Rae Gray were great in their own character, and managed to mold their separate storylines and characters into one, a thing of beauty.

I'd seen Rae in a play called 'Crooked' last year, which seemed  a perfect jumping board to this one (I doubt Slowgirl was on her schedule at that time, but call it Karma)... William Petersen's last play before this was 'Endgame'... and before that was the magnificent 'Blackbird', three very different plays that I think take three very different skillsets not to mention states of mind. I have no idea how he selects his plays, I wish I knew the secret.

True to my habit, I saw this play 4 times in previews, and as fate has it, that last preview really truly was the moment when everything fell into place and every moment hit its mark... brilliant to see that AND be aware of it.

Sterling (William Petersen) and Becky (Rae Gray)

Greg Pierce did a wonderful job in writing this play, it had it's worldwide premier in New York last year at the Lincoln Center Theater with Zjelko Ivanek and Sarah Steele, I am told there were some changes to the play to adjust to a different kind of cast here. Also according to the Lincoln Center website it ran 10 minutes longer... I wonder if it was just a different pace? I wish I had seen the NYC version so I would be able to make the comparison.

a pivotal moment

from the official website:

In the wake of a harrowing accident at a house party in Massachusetts, a teenager flees to her uncle's isolated retreat in the Costa Rican jungle to await, or avoid, the repercussions. As the reclusive Sterling and his impulsive niece get reacquainted over the course of a week, startling details about their pasts slowly unfold. Performed in the newly reconfigured intimate Upstairs Theatre, Slowgirl is a compelling story about owning your past—and getting on with your life.








Review blurbs:

"Engaging, compassionate and well-written…you’ll likely find yourself touched by how well it charts the loving complexities of families"
–Chicago Tribune

"Under the sensitive direction of Randall Arney, two marvelous actors—William Petersen and Rae Gray—deliver finely tuned, often surprising performances."
–Chicago Sun-Times

"Petersen and Gray make an absorbingly off-kilter onstage pair"
–Time Out Chicago

"The intriguing chemistry between these two masters of the intimate stage is delicious to observe."
–Chicago Sun-Times

"This 90-minute dialogue is funny, introspective, and an excellent chance to showcase the talents of Steppenwolf ensemble member William Petersen and Rae Gray."
–Chicago Theatre Review

"Eloquent…wonderful…Pierce understands life’s unsolvable complexities."
–New City

Michael Gambon & Dublin Carol

basics of the Michael Gambon page and the Dublin Carol (trinity rep) page are uploaded.

Dublin Carol
It's so much fun to backtrack on theater visits... once I've caught up I'll only upload (close to) real time experiences, but Trinity Rep's Dublin Carol was over 5 years ago, and really the start of my present Theater interest. Copying old reviews onto the website has been a trip down memory lane, a real treat.

2006 was terrible year in my private life, suffice it to say that a big loss prompted me to be more of a 'seize the day'  kind of person, resulting in a spur of the moment trip to Vegas and New York that summer. Made some new friends in Vegas, among them other theater fans, and among them my now oft travel buddy for Theater trips... serendipity.

So Dublin Carol in Providence RI was already a plan before flying out to Vegas/NYC. I remember being in New York on the day that public sales for Dublin Carol opened. This was 2006, internet access in hotels was either expensive or wonky to say the least. Managed to login on time to grab some front row seats right before the connection went out, victory was mine!

Why Dublin Carol in Providence of all places? this was a special occasion, one of my favorite tv actors had announced to take some time off from his tv show and go back to do a short stint of Stage work. This hit the news at an all time low in my life, apparently my survival instincts honed  in on it as a diversion, and it worked nicely.

So William Petersen wanted to be back on stage for a while, and he picked this nice small theater in Providence RI to do it...  more on Dublin Carol later.

Michael Gambon
There is a lot to say about Michael Gambon, no doubt I will post more about him when talking about the plays he was in because as much as Dublin Carol was an important play for me, Gambon's performance in Pinter's "No Man's Land" I saw a couple of years later in London was another landmark.

For now I will leave you with the observation that mr Gambon is an excellent actor both on stage and on screen, but more than that he is a very gracious star, who takes time for his fans and then manages to get lost in the crowd without anyone bothering him... talent.