LOG IN / REGISTER



Threaded Order Chronological Order

I checked out when
Posted by: dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23
In reply to: Camelot last night - BillEadie 09:13 am EDT 05/31/23

Voltaire was referenced as a French poet—someone that lived a millennium after king author.
reply to this message


That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 12:15 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: I checked out when - dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23

In The Once and Future King, Merlyn own a complete set of the Encyclopeadia Britannica, first published in 1768—during Voltaire's lifetime, in fact—and references the as-yet-undiscovered island of Bermuda.
reply to this message


re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - MockingbirdGirl 12:15 am EDT 06/01/23

For Merlyn it's in the spirit of The Once and Future King, but is it for Guenevere? It's not a future thing in this version because a character lives backwards. It's a present thing.
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: MockingbirdGirl 09:43 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23

I haven't seen this staging, but assigning such a line to Guenevere does seem... odd.

(I saw the Westport Playhouse version with Robert Sean Leonard a few years ago. It was fine... but the show is creaky and it did not inspire me to rush out to see another version.)
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: NewtonUK 08:24 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - AlanScott 04:27 am EDT 06/01/23

And Merlyn is no longer a magician in this version - and he doesn't live backwards. So the line IS in the spirit of the book - but the spirit of the book has been removed in Mr Sorkins WEST WING/THE CAMELOT EDITON. LCT has managed to have CAMELOT's mediocre, but functional book be replaced by an inexplicably awful one.

I am still puzzling this out. Guinevere comes to England to marry King Arthur, as part of a peace treaty. She is in a glorious 'wedding carriage'. She is virtually at the spot where she is supposed to meet the king.

Apparently Mr Sorkin has decided that Guenevere - who isn't too sure about this arranged marriage - has her carriage stop by a copse in the woods. She grabs her suitcase and runs into the undergrowth, and changes from her 'Arriving bride' outfit into black trousers, leather boots, and straps on a long life and cape and runs off - thru the snow which is borrowed from the film of CAMELOT. Then, in between screaming at Arthur and brandishing her knife at him - she takes pauses to sing 'Simple joys of maidenhood' sweetly, without irony. WTF. [If you want to know how to write a strong woman who isn't angry, or unhappy, or screaming, visit GOOD NIGHT, OSCAR]

Sorkin's revised book never allows for the songs to flow from the book. Not to mention the fact that they restored FIE ON GOODNESS and THEN YOY MAY TAKE ME TO THE FAIR, two songs cut after opening by Moss Hart, when he finally was well enough to fix the show. Moss Hart knew best.
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: sirpupnyc 08:49 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - NewtonUK 08:24 am EDT 06/01/23

Well, the snow is actually original. "Scene: A Hilltop near the Castle at Camelot. There is a large tree with great branches reaching high and out of sight, and a small hillock beyond the tree. A light snow is falling."

And so is all of the "the carriage stopped at the bottom of the hill, not the top where tradition dictates" stuff.

I suppose the idea is that she had the pants on under her gown. They're very nice pants, but even in the non-Arthurian timeframe of the new book, she wouldn't have access to pants!
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material.
Posted by: NewtonUK 09:16 am EDT 06/01/23
In reply to: re: That is entirely in the spirit of the source material. - sirpupnyc 08:49 am EDT 06/01/23

You are correct - 'a light snow is falling'/ It falls for a long time, and there is a white groundcloth of 'snow' - which if I'm not mistaken, disappears before Gwen enters ....
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: I checked out when
Posted by: BillEadie 06:11 pm EDT 05/31/23
In reply to: I checked out when - dramedy 03:12 pm EDT 05/31/23

To each his own. I’m sure that Sorkin would argue that the Arthur legend would transcend time. :)

Bill
reply to this message | reply to first message


I’m sure he would.
Last Edit: dramedy 06:19 pm EDT 05/31/23
Posted by: dramedy 06:16 pm EDT 05/31/23
In reply to: re: I checked out when - BillEadie 06:11 pm EDT 05/31/23

But history is pretty definitive that king author did not reign during the 1700s of Voltaire’s life. I think there was some unknown ruler called king George III in England at that time. Had some colonies revolt. Had a play written about his madness and Netflix series about his queen Charlotte. I don’t think King Arthur was referenced in those adaptations.
reply to this message | reply to first message


re: I’m sure he would.
Posted by: mikem 11:33 pm EDT 05/31/23
In reply to: I’m sure he would. - dramedy 06:16 pm EDT 05/31/23

I was confused as to why Sorkin had the characters talking about Voltaire. The anachronism was presumably trying to make some kind of point, but I really didn't understand what Sorkin was going for here. Has he ever talked about it?
reply to this message | reply to first message


Privacy Policy


Time to render: 0.049895 seconds.