//I’ve been meaning to update for a while now! You would not believe the workload Spring has given me! Artwork belongs to me please do not remove text!
I think a surprising amount of writers don’t realize that tragedies are supposed to be cathartic. They’re intended to result in a purging of emotion, a luxurious cry; the sorrow caused by a great tragedy is akin to fear caused by a good horror movie – it’s a “safe” sorrow, one that is actually satisfying to the audience. It can still be beautiful! It’s isn’t supposed to just be salting the earth so nothing can grow.
But that’s how you get grimdark: writers who don’t realize that they’re supposed to be doing something withthe audience instead of tothe audience.
oh god it must feel insane to play guildenstern every night and say that line at the end “There must have been a moment, at the beginning, where we could have said–no. But somehow we missed it. Well, we’ll know better next time.” Like an audience only has to see it play out once but as that actor every single night for months you have to watch this character re-forget and make the same choices and fight against the same tide towards the inevitable conclusion and swear that there’s a way to do it differently next time. rinse repeat.
And now I’m thinking of Hermes from Hadestown, singing this part every night:
“‘Cause here’s the thing: To know how it ends / And still begin to sing it again / As if it might turn out this time – / I learned that from a friend of mine.”
