Television

Subterms

    More stories

    • 175 Shares189 Views

      in Television

      What’s on TV This Week: ‘38 at the Garden’ and a ‘Twilight Saga’ Marathon

      by

      HBO airs a documentary about Jeremy Lin’s winning streak with the New York Knicks. And all five vampire/werewolf romance movies play back to back.Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Oct. 10 — 16. Details and times are subject to change.MondayALL AMERICAN 8 p.m. on The CW. Based loosely on the life of the NFL linebacker Spencer Paysinger (who acts as a consulting producer), this show is back is for a fifth season. In the spring, we saw Spencer (Daniel Ezra) and the rest of his group graduate high school and start making steps toward their future. Though it isn’t even Halloween yet, this episode will catapult us into the holiday mood — Spencer, JJ (Hunter Clowdus) and Asher (Cody Christian) throw a Christmas party try to impress a girl.Zach Woods, left, and Hugh Laurie in “Avenue 5.”HBOAVENUE 5 10 p.m. on HBO. The year is 2060, ocean cruises are out and space cruises are in — that is the premise of this show, entering its second season and starring Hugh Laurie, Josh Gad and Zach Woods. “Despite the scabrous behavior of the crew and the (largely caricatured and dull) consternation of the passengers, there’s an incipient earnestness to ‘Avenue 5,’” Mike Hale wrote in his review for The New York Times. “It feels as if we may start to see unexpected grace and resourcefulness and pluck, rather than unrelieved cynicism and self-dealing.”MY TRUE CRIME STORY 11 p.m. on VH1. Each episode of this docu-series, narrated by the rapper Remy Ma, people reveal their involvement in theft, drug dealing, sex work and how they moved past these episodes and found success in their respective fields. The series also touches on how inequalities in the criminal justice system (including mandatory surcharges) can trap people.TuesdayDrake Rodger and Meg Donnelly in “The Winchesters.”Matt Miller/The CWTHE WINCHESTERS 8 p.m. on The CW. After 15 seasons of “Supernatural,” fans know Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles) pretty well — but do they know anything about his family? Skipping between the present and the past, this new spinoff series follows the story of how Dean’s parents, John Winchester (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan in the original series and by Drake Rodger here) and Mary Campbell (played by Samantha Smith in the original series and Meg Donnelly here) met.Wednesday38 AT THE GARDEN 8 p.m. on HBO. Jeremy Lin, the former New York Knicks basketball player, known for his seven-game winning streak and “Linsanity,” is the focus of HBO’s new documentary. More specifically, the special brings viewers back to Feb. 10, 2012, when Lin scored 38 points against the Los Angeles Lakers at Madison Square Garden. Hasan Minhaj, Iman Shumpert, Jenny Yang, Lisa Ling and Lin himself all appear to comment on the phenomenon of “Linsanity” and the cultural impact for the Asian American community.LOVE AT FIRST LIE 9:30 p.m. on MTV. The landscape for reality competition dating shows is already pretty jammed packed: We have “Are You the One?,” “Love Island” and “Too Hot to Handle,” to name a few. MTV is jumping in with another — about uncovering who is in a real relationship and who is faking it. Each time a liar is called out during a “truth ceremony,” $25,000 is added to the cash prize.ThursdayWINTER HOUSE 9 p.m. on Bravo. “Winter House” is to Bravo what “The Avengers” is to the Marvel cinematic universe — you see reality stars doing their own thing on their respective shows (“Summer House” and “Southern Charm”), then come together in a house in Vermont. Most of the cast from the original season will be returning for the second installment, with Bravo icons Tom Sandoval and Tom Schwartz set to make appearances as well.FridayCMT ARTISTS OF THE YEAR 9 p.m. on CMT. This annual show celebrates the biggest names in country music: Lainey Wilson is taking home breakout artist of the year, and Alan Jackson is being honored with the lifetime-achievement award. Carly Pearce, Cody Johnson, Kane Brown, Luke Combs and Walker Hayes have all been given the honor of artist of the year. The live show will feature performances and surprise presenters.FIXER UPPER: THE CASTLE 9 p.m. on HBO. Chip and Joanna Gaines are working their renovation magic on a much bigger project this time — a hundred-year-old castle in Waco, Texas. Over eight episodes, they are going to transform the castle while keeping in mind the features that make it accurate to the time period.REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE (1955) 10:15 p.m. on TCM. This film, about a teenager who moves to a new town and causes trouble, is one of James Dean’s most iconic roles. Sal Mineo and Natalie Wood also star as his new friend and the girl he falls for. “Convincing or not in motivations, this tale of tempestuous kids and their weird ways of conducting their social relations is tense with explosive incidents,” Bosley Crowther wrote in his review for The Times.SaturdayRobert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2.”Andrew Cooper/Summit Entertainment“THE TWILIGHT SAGA” MARATHON from 1 p.m. on MTV. If you have roughly ten hours to spare, and are in the mood for romance, vampires, werewolves, high school drama and a creepy CGI baby, you are in luck. MTV will be airing, back to back, all five films (“Twilight,” “New Moon,” “Eclipse,” “Breaking Dawn Part 1” and “Breaking Dawn Part 2”). Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner star in this young-adult book series turned film franchise.SundayMISS SCARLET AND THE DUKE 8 p.m. on PBS (check local listings). This mystery series, which stars Kate Phillips as the first female detective in Victorian London, is back for a second season. Stuart Martin stars as her co-worker, love interest and childhood friend. Together, they take on the perplexing cases and try to uncover the truth. More

    • 150 Shares99 Views

      in Television

      SNL Taps Into Anxiety About Biden and Takes on the Try Guys

      by

      “Saturday Night Live” dispensed with a week’s worth of headlines in a game show parody. Another sketch reckoned with the ongoing drama of the Try Guys.It was a week with way too much news, so rather than try to contend with it in a customary opening sketch leaning on celebrity impressions, “Saturday Night Live” — looking to build on the momentum of last week’s offbeat season premiere — began with a game show.As he explained the premise of “So You Think You Won’t Snap,” Bowen Yang addressed the camera directly: “Hello, America,” he said. “Have you noticed everyone around you is angry and crazy? People are flipping out at Target. Stabbing is back. And the only thing that can cheer us up is watching a sexy show about Jeffrey Dahmer. We are living on the edge, and tonight I’m here to push us over.”The challenge he posed to the players was to simply listen to him read news headlines and keep their cool. The first contestant, a music professor and self-described “white yoga teacher” (Heidi Gardner), was given a glass of wine as Yang recounted recent events including the war in Ukraine, the bridge explosion in the Crimean Peninsula and President Biden’s sobering remarks on nuclear Armageddon. Those did not faze her, but when he played a video clip of Biden awkwardly evaluating his own mental focus on “60 Minutes,” — “Oh, it’s focused” — Gardner snapped and chugged the wine.Another contestant played by Chloe Fineman was told she could strike a Frontier Airlines flight attendant (Sarah Sherman) standing nearby when the headlines got too real. Unmoved by news about the difficulties facing Herschel Walker’s Senate campaign or a survey of children who dream of being influencers, Fineman lost it when she was played a trailer highlighting Chris Pratt’s voice in the “Super Mario Bros.” movie. “He’s supposed to be Italian!” she shouted.Kenan Thompson lasted as long as it took Yang to say “This week, Elon Musk—— ” before he trashed the table in front of him. And when Devon Walker was shown a photograph of Ye (formerly Kanye West) wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt, he put a hot iron to his ear.Concluding the segment, Yang announced, “When we come back, we’ll show an 80-year-old man an episode of ‘Euphoria.’”Unexpectedly Game Host of the WeekSimply by giving the host’s role to Brendan Gleeson, the veteran character actor (“In Bruges,” “Paddington 2”), “S.N.L.” signaled that it was going to make unusual use of its principal celebrity guest.Gleeson (who got an early taste of “S.N.L.” virality with a promo that passed him off as a rebellious skateboarder) admitted in his monologue that he wasn’t much of a joke-teller. But he played the mandolin, tolerated a couple of cameos from Colin Farrell and slid right into a “Please Don’t Destroy” video about a 67-year-old man passing himself off as a high-school senior. Gleeson also played an unlikely CNN correspondent in the sketch that forced us to finally learn who the Try Guys are.New Cast Members of the Week“S.N.L.” continued to waste no time introducing its four new featured performers, spotlighting all of them in this filmed segment that, initially, seemed to be about the advice they’re receiving and the lessons they’re learning in their first weeks on the job.Walker, Michael Longfellow and Marcello Hernández relayed the tips that Lorne Michaels and other “S.N.L.” veterans had shared with them: Mainly, don’t try to do too much or put pressure on yourself to get a sketch on the air.Molly Kearney, however, received a different kind of counsel: “On Day 1,” Kearney recalled, “Lorne pulled me into his office and said, ‘Molly, there’s only one reason you’re here. I need you to kill Vladimir Putin.’ He hands me this gun and says, ‘Don’t worry, the serial numbers have been scratched off. They’ll never trace it back to us.’ I’m like, us?”Weekend Update Jokes of the WeekOver at the Weekend Update desk, the anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che riffed on some recent stumbling blocks that Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate have encountered.Jost began:The midterms are only a month away, and is it just me or are some candidates trying to lose? Let’s start in Pennsylvania with Dr. Oz, seen here telling the audience how many minutes he’s lived in Pennsylvania. [The screen shows a photo of Dr. Oz holding up his hand with all five fingers extended.] A review of scientific studies published by Dr. Oz revealed that his experiments killed over 300 dogs. But eventually he got the recipe right. [The screen shows the package for a product called “Dr. Oz’s Organic Meatballs.”] Dr. Oz has refused to comment on the report that his research killed over 300 dogs, though it’s possible he couldn’t hear the question over the wood-chipper. [The screen shows an image of Oz about to insert a dog into said garden tool.] But don’t worry, Dr. Oz won everybody back last night when he gave a speech in front of Hitler’s car. Worse, he then got into the car and backed over a dog.Che continued:Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker denied reports that he paid for a girlfriend’s abortion, saying, “I send money to a lot of people.” Before adding, “You know, for abortions.” After news broke that Walker paid for his ex-girlfriend’s abortion, he raised more than $500,000. Because dollars are the only thing Walker is willing to raise.Disney Princess of the WeekA coming live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” starring Halle Bailey as Ariel, has been a source of inspiration for Black girls who want to see someone like themselves in a lead role, as well as a target for online trolls. But when Ego Nwodim came to the Weekend Update desk in the guise of this character, she explained she didn’t want to be anyone’s hero, and gave evidence for why she probably shouldn’t be.First, she explained to Jost that he did not have to call her “Black Ariel”: “You can just call me Ariel,” she said. “I don’t call you ‘white Colin’ … to your face.” She went on to say she supported Sea World and the Iraq War, was responsible for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and wasn’t very smart: “I’ll deadass bite a worm on a hook,” she said. “Gets me every damn time.” More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Television

      What to Know About Kevin Spacey’s Civil Trial: Anthony Rapp Takes the Stand

      by

      In a lawsuit, Mr. Rapp said Mr. Spacey made a sexual advance when Mr. Rapp was 14. Mr. Spacey is accused of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.Five years ago, as the #MeToo movement saw a growing number of high-profile men face accusations of sexual misconduct, a claim against Kevin Spacey emerged while he was starring in the Netflix show “House of Cards.”In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Anthony Rapp, best known for his role in the musical “Rent,” alleged that in 1986, when he was 14, Mr. Spacey picked him up, placed him on a bed and lay down on top of him, making a “sexual advance.”Mr. Rapp told the publication that the encounter occurred around the time both actors were in Broadway shows and that Mr. Spacey, then 26, invited him to a gathering at his Manhattan apartment. Mr. Rapp told BuzzFeed he was able to “squirm” away and leave.Mr. Spacey has denied the allegation.In 2020, Mr. Rapp sued Mr. Spacey, accusing him of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A judge dismissed the assault claim, but on Thursday, lawyers delivered their opening statements about the other claims before a 12-person jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Testimony began on Friday, with Mr. Rapp detailing his account of what happened in 1986.Mr. Spacey, who faces criminal sexual assault charges in Britain in a separate case, has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men. This is the first time one of those claims has reached a trial.After Mr. Rapp’s public accusation, TV and film producers quickly dropped Mr. Spacey from projects. His character was written out of “House of Cards,” and he was ultimately ordered to pay the studio $31 million for breach of contract. Mr. Rapp currently stars in the TV show “Star Trek: Discovery.”Mr. Spacey, now 63, initially released a statement saying he did not recall the encounter that Mr. Rapp, now 50, had described, saying, “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” In court papers submitted following the lawsuit, Mr. Spacey has vehemently denied that the incident ever occurred.Anthony Rapp said Mr. Spacey made a “sexual advance” when Mr. Rapp was 14.Slaven Vlasic/Getty ImagesWhat is Mr. Rapp’s side telling the jury?Mr. Rapp took the stand on Friday and walked the court through the details of his account. He said that in 1986, when he was 14, he attended a party at Mr. Spacey’s apartment in Manhattan and, realizing he didn’t know any other guests, went into a bedroom and watched television on the edge of the bed. Eventually, Mr. Spacey appeared in the doorway, seeming intoxicated, and approached him, Mr. Rapp testified.Mr. Rapp said Mr. Spacey then picked him up, describing it like a groom carrying a bride over a threshold, and lay down on top of him, putting his weight on his body and pressing his groin into the side of Mr. Rapp’s hip.“I knew something was really wrong now,” Mr. Rapp said, recalling feeling frozen in place.Managing to wriggle out from under Mr. Spacey, Mr. Rapp testified, he went inside a nearby bathroom and shut the door before making his way to leave the apartment.As Mr. Rapp was leaving, he said, Mr. Spacey leaned into the doorway and said, “Are you sure you want to leave?” — the first words Mr. Spacey said to Mr. Rapp during the encounter, he said.Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have argued that this account constitutes battery and that Mr. Rapp suffered severe emotional distress, including depression and anxiety. Battery is legally defined as “the unjustified touching of another person, without that person’s consent, with the intent to cause a bodily contact that a reasonably prudent person would find offensive.” Mr. Rapp testified that it didn’t occur to him at the time to go to the police.The plaintiff’s side has also presented accounts Mr. Rapp gave to others in the years after the incident he described. In opening statements, a lawyer for Mr. Rapp, Peter J. Saghir, also homed in on Mr. Spacey’s statement after the BuzzFeed article, noting that he did not strongly deny Mr. Rapp’s account until his lawsuit was filed.How is Mr. Spacey’s side defending the actor?A lawyer for Mr. Spacey, Jennifer L. Keller, described Mr. Spacey’s initial statement concerning the allegations as the product of a “panic” among his managers and advisers, who advised him to take a certain tone to avoid the “social media mob.”Behind the scenes, Ms. Keller said in court, Mr. Spacey was saying he had no memory of what Mr. Rapp described. In court papers, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers said that he had flatly denied Mr. Rapp’s account, and that although he had recalled meeting Mr. Rapp on a few occasions, those interactions were “peripheral and limited.” When seeking to dismiss the case, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers emphasized in court papers that “by plaintiff’s own admission, there was no groping, no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo.”Ms. Keller accused Mr. Rapp of making the allegations to benefit his own career and attract public attention. “It’s not a true story, but he did tell it a lot,” she said, acknowledging that there were people who would recall Mr. Rapp’s telling them about Mr. Spacey in the following years.Ms. Keller alleged that Mr. Rapp had fabricated the story by borrowing details from “Precious Sons,” the Broadway play he was in that year. She said that in the play a character drunkenly mistakes his son, played by Mr. Rapp, for his wife, picking him up and lying on top of him in a way that mirrors Mr. Rapp’s allegations.Mr. Spacey’s team has also focused on his apartment at the time, presenting a floor plan that did not align with details in Mr. Rapp’s account.Who has testified?Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have asserted that Mr. Rapp was not the only victim of sexual misconduct by Mr. Spacey, and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan allowed another accuser to testify.On Friday, that accuser, Andy Holtzman, 68, took the stand. He said that in 1981, Mr. Spacey groped his genitals and rubbed his groin on Mr. Holtzman, who was at the time working in an office at New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater. Mr. Holtzman testified that Mr. Spacey, who was in a production at the theater company around that time, entered his office and, after Mr. Holtzman got off a phone call, walked up to him, grabbed his groin and pushed him into his desk. Mr. Holtzman, who shared his account on Facebook in 2017, said that after he screamed his objections, Mr. Spacey angrily left the room.In a deposition, Mr. Spacey denied Mr. Holtzman’s allegations, saying he did not recall any dealings with him. A lawyer for Mr. Spacey, Chase Scolnick, challenged Mr. Holtzman’s account in cross-examination, questioning how he would have recognized Mr. Spacey, who was not well known at the time, and why he did not tell superiors at work.Two other witnesses testified that Mr. Rapp told them about his encounter with Mr. Spacey in the mid-1990s.Christopher Denny, 65, who works in the theater industry, testified that Mr. Rapp, whom he described as a friend, told him about an encounter with Mr. Spacey in the mid-1990s. Sean Snow, a friend of Mr. Rapp’s, testified by video deposition that Mr. Rapp also told him the same story.Mr. Scolnick pointed out in his questioning of the witnesses that they did not have any firsthand knowledge of the incident.Who else is expected to testify?Mr. Spacey’s lawyers have indicated that one of their key witnesses may be John Barrowman, an actor known for his role in the TV show “Doctor Who.” He was an acquaintance of Mr. Rapp when they were teenagers and visited him in New York in 1986 to see “Precious Sons.” Mr. Barrowman and Mr. Rapp met Mr. Spacey backstage at a play, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers said, asserting that Mr. Barrowman’s account of events that year do not align with Mr. Rapp’s.Mr. Spacey’s lawyers have indicated that they may call Adam Vary, the BuzzFeed journalist who wrote the initial article.Why is Mr. Rapp able to bring this claim now?Because Mr. Rapp’s claims extend beyond the statute of limitations, he is relying on a law called the Child Victims Act, which New York State passed in 2019. It included a “look-back window” — a limited period of time in which people who say they were sexually abused as children could sue.The plaintiff and the defense dispute whether the law applies in this case.Mr. Spacey’s lawyers assert that based on the legislation, a plaintiff can revive claims only if they constitute a “sexual offense” that violates penal law, and they argue that Mr. Rapp’s allegations do not meet that threshold. Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have said that sexual contact, under the law, can include touching over the clothing or forcefully holding the victim, as their client alleges. What has become of other legal claims against Mr. Spacey?Mr. Rapp originally sued with an anonymous plaintiff, who alleged that he was a teenager when Mr. Spacey sexually assaulted him while working as an acting coach in the 1980s. Judge Kaplan ruled that the plaintiff would have to identify himself publicly if he wanted to continue on to trial, which he declined to do.In another case, in 2019, prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped a sexual assault charge after the accuser was warned that he could be charged with a felony if he had deleted phone evidence. The man, who had accused Mr. Spacey of fondling him at a Nantucket restaurant when he was 18, refused to continue his testimony.Later that year, a separate lawsuit in California that had accused Mr. Spacey of sexually assaulting a massage therapist was dropped after the plaintiff died.In Britain, Mr. Spacey is facing four charges of sexual assault as well as one of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He pleaded not guilty, and a trial is expected to start next summer. More

    • 138 Shares159 Views

      in Television

      LaTanya Richardson Jackson on Directing ‘The Piano Lesson’ (and Her Husband)

      by

      As she makes her Broadway directorial debut, she said her “vision is about seeing a deeper way into” what August Wilson intended with his Pulitzer Prize-winning play.LaTanya Richardson Jackson believes in ghosts. Better put: She believed her parents, and grandparents, when they talked about being frequently visited by people who were invisible to the human eye. Such a childhood has not only opened her up to having similar experiences but also made her uniquely qualified to bring one of August Wilson’s most haunting plays, “The Piano Lesson,” back to Broadway this fall.It first premiered there in 1990, and this Broadway revival — the show’s first — will star Danielle Brooks and John David Washington. The play, initially produced in 1987 at Yale Repertory Theater, is the fourth in Wilson’s 10-play series known as “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” which explores a full century of African American life in Pennsylvania’s Steel City.Jackson saw that original production, in part, because she was an actress and lifelong admirer of Wilson’s work. (She later starred in a Tony-nominated revival of Wilson’s “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” in 2009 and made her directorial debut with his “Two Trains Running” at True Colors Theater Company in Atlanta in 2013.) But she was also there to support her husband, Samuel L. Jackson, who was playing the lead character, Boy Willie. He’s also starring in the revival, but as Boy Willie’s uncle Doaker.From left: Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Brooks and Ray Fisher in “The Piano Lesson” at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, where it is scheduled to open Oct. 13.Sara Krulwich/The New York TimesSet in 1936, “The Piano Lesson,” for which Wilson also won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1990, follows two siblings, Boy Willie (Washington) and Berniece (Brooks), as they debate the fate of their family heirloom, a piano upon which the faces of their great-grandmother and her son are carved. Boy Willie wants to sell the piano and buy the property their enslaved ancestors worked on in the South. Berniece wants to keep it, understanding that the piano itself offers them another connection and liberation from their oppressive past. In contrast, Doaker sees the piano as haunted both by Boy Charles, his dead older brother and Boy Willie and Berniece’s father; and the ghost of the white slave owner, Sutter.On Broadway, Jackson, 72, is best known for portraying Lena Younger in a 2014 revival of “A Raisin in the Sun,” and, more recently, as Calpurnia, in the substantially expanded role of Atticus Finch’s sagacious and reserved housekeeper in Aaron Sorkin’s 2019 adaptation of “To Kill A Mockingbird.” But, within African American drama, in regional theaters and on television shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” Jackson has long been a familiar face.“The star thing,” she told me. “You have to have a mind-set for that. And I just was never willing to do that.”What she has been doing is giving life to complex Black female protagonists on the stage and screen, and now working to unlock the deeper elements of Wilson’s women. Wilson once said he wanted to create a female character in “The Piano Lesson,” which “was as large as Troy was in Fences.” But, in the end, Wilson had to admit that his interests in the themes of self-worth, tradition, and tracing the history of the piano for 135 years took over the plot so much that his female character was “not as large as I intended.”Knowing that, Richardson said she paid homage to Wilson the best way she knew how: by making visible the many worlds, obvious and hidden, his play offers us. She added that her early encounters with the play, as well as Wilson and his other works, empowered her to take those risks here in her Broadway directorial debut.In a recent video interview, Jackson talked about navigating the gender politics of Wilson’s plays, what working with Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington has been like and how she discovered that directing was really her first love. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.You’re the first woman to direct an August Wilson play on Broadway. How has your perspective as a Black woman impacted your approach to his material?August was such a man’s man. When I directed “Two Trains Running” for Kenny Leon’s True Colors company in Atlanta, I told him [Leon], “As a woman, I look at things differently, and what might appear to you as minutiae, I find to be an important point.”I remember telling Pauletta [Washington], who played Risa, “Every time one of those men mention a woman who has died or was killed, you drop something in the kitchen and make a big, loud noise so that they have to stop and think about what they just said.” We can’t just have a conversation about women being cut or stabbed to death like that’s just a regular part of life. Our presence should not be something that’s taken for granted. Our presence is important.In “The Piano Lesson,” Berniece, like Risa, is the only woman in the cast.Yes, Berniece is surrounded by all of this testosterone. I saw the first production of this play at Yale, and I remember asking August after, “Where are all the women? Where are all the parts for women?” And he said, “Well, you know, Joe Turner has women.” I said, “But we’re always singular.” Then, he told me, “I’ll write about them when I really know what I’m saying.”My mentor, Douglas Turner Ward, told me: “Great playwrights don’t always know what they’re writing or what they have written. They attempt to do something, and if it’s great, the spirits visit them, and they just write. It’s a director’s job to see what they have actually written, whether or not it was their intention or not. Usually, with great writers, it’s bigger than what they intend.” And I find that to be so true of August.You embrace the otherworldliness of this story. Why was that important to you?Oct. 2 was the anniversary of August’s transition, so I’ve been thinking about him and his widow, Constanza Romero, and how to approach this story spiritually. I’m telling everybody, “This is a ghost story.” I believe there are other worlds where things are occurring, even if we don’t see them. To manifest that in the play, I felt that every member in that house was fighting their own ghosts. But Sutter [the white slave owner] represents the ghost of racism and the cruel manner we have had to navigate life in this country. August metaphorically shows that this ghost was an albatross around our necks. But I wanted to visually manifest it so that there was no question that we were attempting to exorcise it.Like any good ghost story, the house also seems haunted.I told myself that I had to find a designer who could build a house that was not raggedy but was really broken. August was a genius. In this play, he gave us these two-sided Janus figures. Not just between Boy Willie and Berniece, but [the brothers] Wining Boy and Doaker Charles, and the family and Lymon [Boy Willie’s friend]. And he did so because he believed that our people deserve to be recorded and documented in a classical way. That’s why we call him our Shakespeare.So, when I told our gifted set designer, Beowulf [Boritt], that house had to be split open, he was intrigued. Then when I said, “And the house has no walls.” He said, “I’m going down that rabbit hole with you.” Listen, we don’t change August’s words. That’s sacrosanct. That’s not what this vision is about. This vision is about seeing a deeper way into what he has given us.Mostly known for her work as an actress, Jackson says directing is her true passion: “I wish I were younger. But this is all I want to do now.”George Etheredge for The New York TimesThe piano is so meaningful to this family, and its symbolism is heightened by its physical beauty. Is there a story behind its design?Other versions of the play always have these pianos with these beautifully carved fresco plaques on them. But, Sam and I — you know I am married to Sam Jackson, right? — well, back in our house in Los Angeles, we have a Tree of Life statue made by the Makonde sculptors from East Africa. They start with a piece of ebony and then pass it among the community members to carve until it is all done. So, I wanted the piano to look like a Makonde statue and Mama’s face had to be the most prominent, and then the little boy Charles. And you know how they made that happen? A 3-D printer.Speaking of Samuel L. Jackson, he starred as Boy Willie in the original production. Now, he is playing the role of one of the uncles, Doaker Charles. What was it like for you to direct him?Sam and I are used to working together and being around each other 24/7. But I realized in this particular context, he doesn’t like to take a note. I had heard that about him before, but I just thought, “Oh, he just doesn’t like to take notes from people he feels don’t know what they’re talking about.” I didn’t think I’d even have to tell him, “That’s the note, brother.” And when I did, he said, “Well, I think I would know how that goes.” And I said, “I’m just bringing it to your attention that it didn’t go the way I would like it to go.”The way that I operate is that there are no stars in the room. We are an ensemble, and we are moving together or not at all. But, it was a true gift that this project came to me with Sam and John David already attached to it.This is John David Washington’s first play. You’ve also known him for a long time, did anything surprise you about his performance?Denzel and Pauletta Washington have been very generous with their children with me, and I love all their children. They, like our daughter, Zoe, are all worker bees. So to watch John David’s career and be able to help develop it is beyond a responsibility. It’s like being given something from God that says, “OK, you take care of and nurture this.” And to him, I said, “We got this. Just trust me. Your instrument is built soundly. We are going to give you the notes, and all you have to do is play them.” And he has exceeded my wildest imagination.This brings us back to Berniece. There are the words on the page, and then what you bring to her character.Or what Danielle [Brooks] brings. I’ve only been trying to guide Danielle toward who I think Berniece is. I’ve seen different renditions of this character, and she is always so angry, almost too angry. And I know she’s frustrated because she lost Crawford, the love of her life, and blames Boy Willie. But there are times that the anger covers up that hurt. So, I’ve told her, “Sometimes I just want to see the hurt because it allows me into you in a different way.” This is a family that loves each other, so she has to have a heart for him, too.Do you want to continue directing?Since I was in sixth grade, I knew that this was something inside of me, and God only knows who or what I could have been or done by now if I had just followed that track. I wish I were younger. But this is all I want to do now. More

    • 213 Shares169 Views

      in Television

      ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ Season 1, Episode 7: Out of the Ashes

      by

      This ancient version of Middle-earth is starting to look a little more like the one we know. Here are five takeaways from this week’s episode.Season 1, Episode 7: ‘The Eye’The title of this week’s “The Rings of Power” episode seems a lot like a wink toward even the most casual of Tolkien fans. It’s called “The Eye,” a name that could refer to the Eye of Sauron: the imposing symbol of the Dark Lord’s all-seeing, all-knowing power in “The Lord of the Rings” books and movies. After six episodes of merely teasing connections — by hinting that Adar may be Sauron, or that the Stranger may be a wizard, or that the Southlands may be Mordor — the show’s writers may be ready to start definitively answering some questions.But are they? This episode opens with an image of an actual eye. It’s Galadriel’s, as she wakes up covered in ash after the volcanic explosion triggered by Adar’s minions. Later, we learn that the Queen-Regent Míriel was blinded while trying to save as many as possible in the wake of the eruption. There seems to be a motif here. Does the title of “The Eye” literally refer to eyes, and not to Sauron?As it happens, very little of this week’s action involves Adar, the orcs or Sauron (whomever or wherever he may be). Instead, we see the Númenóreans and the Southlanders regroup after last week’s disastrous events; and we catch up with the dwarves and the Harfoots. The episode does end with the orcs settling into their new homeland, where the sun has been blotted out by the volcano’s smoke and ash. And there, the “Rings” writers do clarify something viewers have been wondering, as the word “Southlands” is erased from the screen and replaced with the region’s new name: “Mordor.” This ancient version of Middle-earth is starting to look a little more like the one we know.Here are five takeaways and observations from this season’s penultimate episode:Galadriel and her little buddyAfter her enormous setback in the previous episode, Galadriel is a much humbler elf — although “humble” is a relative term for an immortal who still believes, more often than not, that her choices are absolutely right. Still, there are some (so to speak) humanizing moments for Galadriel this week, as she helps Theo find his way out of his ravaged village and to the spot near the shore where the Númenóreans and the Southlanders are resting. As the two ride, they talk. She shares some personal stories that make her seem less forbidding, including describing dancing with her late husband, a soldier whom she says resembled “a silver clam” when he rode off to battle because his armor didn’t fit properly.More important, Galadriel talks Theo out of thinking he is solely responsible for Adar’s victory, or that he belongs alongside Waldreg and the other humans on the path of darkness. She insists that the wise understand a person’s true intentions. And she urges him — and perhaps herself — not to dwell on mistakes, or to be consumed by revenge. “What cannot be known hollows the mind,” she says. “Fill it not with guesswork.” (One thing this show’s writers do particularly well is invent new aphorisms.)Explore the World of the ‘Lord of the Rings’The literary universe built by J.R.R. Tolkien, now adapted into a new series for Amazon Prime Video, has inspired generations of readers and viewers.Artist and Scholar: Tolkien did more than write books. He invented an alternate reality, complete with its own geography, languages and history.Being Frodo: The actor Elijah Wood explains why he’ll never be upset at being associated with the “Lord of the Rings” movie series.A Soviet Take: A 1991 production based on Tolkien’s novels, recently digitized by a Russian broadcaster, is a time capsule of a bygone era.From the Archives: Read what W.H. Auden wrote about “The Fellowship of the Ring,” the first volume of Tolkien’s trilogy, in 1954.The Elrond and Durin ShowAfter the heartwarming moment two episodes ago when Elrond admitted to Durin that the elves actually do need the dwarves’ supply of mithril to survive — and Durin seemed eager to help — the plan hits a huge snag in this episode when the dwarves’ king, Durin III (Peter Mullan), nixes it. Even though the elves promise to furnish the city with game, grain and timber for the next five centuries, King Durin’s general distrust of elves and his fear of digging too deep scotches the deal. In the fiery arguments that follow, Prince Durin has his title stripped by his father.Markella Kavenagh and Lenny Henry in “The Rings of Power.”Prime VideoThis only strengthens the bond between Elrond and Durin, who have become this show’s most likable pair. These boys can be heart-on-the-sleeve sincere, as when Durin comes very close to revealing the secret name he only shares with his closest family members. Or they can bust each other’s chops, as when Elrond suggests he intentionally lost their big contest back in Episode 2. As with the meaningful conversations between Galadriel and Theo this week, it’s nice to see characters on this kind of heavy, epic series just enjoying each other’s company.Whom the gods favorOne of the juiciest recurring themes this season has involved the preoccupation with — and disagreement over — various signs and omens. How does anyone know when the gods want a call of opportunity to be answered? Think of Elendil, whose ship happened upon the raft Galadriel and Halbrand were clinging to in Episode 2. Was that divine providence, offering a chance to change the Númenóreans’ lives for the better? Elendil certainly doesn’t think so in this episode, given that Galadriel’s mission to Middle-earth seems to have led to his son’s death.The Harfoots are the most uncertain about what anything really means. Like: Is the arrival of the Stranger good luck or bad luck? There is evidence of both. This week, as they arrive at their favorite grove to find it destroyed by the nearby volcanic spew, the Harfoots’ leader Sadoc tells “the big fella” he needs to leave. But when the trees the Stranger passes start coming back to life and yielding a bumper crop of apples, it looks like Sadoc sent him away too hastily. Then again, immediately after this revelation the white-clad creatures tracking the strange visitor show up and burn the clan’s carts. What are the gods saying here?Which brings us back to King Durin III, who refuses to believe that his kingdom’s unique ability to save the elves is a boon. He thinks it may be the gods’ will for the elves to disappear. (“The fate of the elves was decided many ages ago by minds much wiser, much farther-seeing than our own,” he tells his son.) Even when he sees with his own eyes how mithril heals the elves’ poisoned leaf, it moves him only to drop that leaf into the depths of Khazad-dûm … where it catches fire and stirs the attention of a deeply buried balrog. Whose will is being done?History is written by the winners … eventually.Given how roundly our heroes have been beaten both in this episode and last week’s, one would expect them to be in a glum, hopeless state of mind. Not so! When Galadriel kneels before Míriel to offer her penitence, the Queen-Regent tells her, “Do not spend your pity on me, elf. Save it for our enemies, for they do not know what they have begun.” Sure, the Númenóreans are sailing home (minus a garrison to help the Southlanders resettle), but Míriel pledges their return. It’s hard not to be stirred at the end of this episode, as Galadriel escorts the deeply wounded Halbrand to Lindon for medical treatment and the people seeing them off, at Theo’s urging, shout, “Strength to the Southlands!”It’s even more moving when the Harfoots respond to the cart-burning by deciding they need to warn the Stranger about these dangerous folk pursuing him. “Weeping? Is that all you think we have left in us?” Nori’s father Largo (Dylan Smith) asks, in a speech so rousing that it spurs Sadoc to help Nori on her quest. Even the skeptical elder Malva (Thusitha Jayasundera) joins the search party, saying, “What’s the good of living if we aren’t living good?” (Sadoc’s rueful but no less determined reply: “Doesn’t matter anyway, we’re all gonna die.”)Daniel Weyman in “The Rings of Power.”Ben Rothstein/Prime VideoColor and lightLast week I expressed mild disappointment that two-thirds of the episode’s battle scenes were set in darkness, which was necessitated by the plot (given that orcs burn in sunlight) but also seemed to me to ape the dimly lit battles of “Game of Thrones.” Then, a few days later, the “Thrones” prequel series, “House of the Dragon,” aired an episode so murky that social media exploded with frustration and incredulity. Afterward, I rewatched those nighttime “Rings” battles and I must say, the visual differences between this show and the “Thrones” franchise are actually pretty pronounced. At least in this series, the torches everyone carries at night illuminate the action.So let me re-up my past praise of “The Rings of Power” for how much brighter and more colorful it is than most modern prestige television. Even in this week’s episode, as Middle-earth is coated in dust and smog, there are striking images: a burning horse, an ominous oversized footprint, the devastation wrought by flaming fireballs, and so on. This show is never simplistic about “light” versus “darkness” when it comes to the locations and the characters. But neither are the writers and directors building a world of morally ambiguous characters in shadowy gray landscapes. There are differences here between good and evil — and the frame is lit up enough to see them. More

    • 125 Shares169 Views

      in Television

      Stephen Colbert Calls Biden’s Marijuana Pardon a ‘Green New Deal’

      by

      Colbert celebrated Biden’s announcement on Thursday that people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law would be pardoned.Welcome to Best of Late Night, a rundown of the previous night’s highlights that lets you sleep — and lets us get paid to watch comedy. Here are the 50 best movies on Netflix right now.‘Green New Deal’President Joe Biden pardoned people convicted of marijuana possession under federal law on Thursday.“Ladies and gentlemen, that is a hell of a green New Deal,” Stephen Colbert said.“He’s pardoning federal marijuana simple-possession offenses — all of them, from the dankest nugs to the harshest ditch weed. I’m talkin’ pot, grass, Mary Jane, reefer, the sweet sticky icky, ganja, choom-choom, lime pillows, sticks n’ stems, herb, chronic, Yemen, the devil’s lettuce, wacky tobacky, Acapulco gold, jazz cigarettes and the right honorable reverend Al Green.” — STEPHEN COLBERT“Can you imagine how many people are incarcerated? Even worse, can you imagine getting pardoned for this after seeing how mainstream weed has become in America? I bet witches probably feel the same way, you know? It’s like, ‘Oh, so these hipster chicks can walk around Brooklyn with their candles and crystals, but when I did it in Salem, I got burned!’” — TREVOR NOAH“This will affect more than 6,000 Americans. Their criminal records will be cleared. He also encouraged governors to do the same on the state level, promised that his administration will review whether marijuana should still be classified as a schedule 1 drug and gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to a bag of Funyuns.” — JIMMY KIMMELThe Punchiest Punchlines (High Point Edition)“The move stops short of full decriminalization, which will probably have to wait until we have a President Woodrow Harrelson or something.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“I’m pretty sure Biden’s approval rating is about to get high for the first time.” — JIMMY FALLON“It is the most cannabis-friendly decision by a U.S. president yet, and I, for one, am just glad Willie Nelson is alive to see this happen.” — JIMMY KIMMEL“Yeah, the president canceled student loan debt and now he’s pardoning people for weed. I think Biden’s going to be able to get into any frat he wants right now.” — JIMMY FALLONThe Bits Worth WatchingThe rapper Jack Harlow co-hosted “The Tonight Show,” sharing in Thursday night’s edition of #Hashtags with Jimmy Fallon.Also, Check This OutOndi Timoner filmed her father’s last days. “I wanted to bottle him up,” she said. “I was terrified to not hear his voice again.”Brad Torchia for The New York Times“Last Flight Home,” by Ondi Timoner, is a documentary about her terminally ill father, who chose to end his life by medically assisted suicide. More

    • 150 Shares159 Views

      in Television

      What to Know About Kevin Spacey’s Civil Trial: Lawyers Make Opening Statements

      by

      In a lawsuit, the actor Anthony Rapp said Mr. Spacey made a sexual advance when Mr. Rapp was 14. Mr. Spacey is accused of battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress.Five years ago, as the #MeToo movement saw a growing number of high-profile men face accusations of sexual misconduct, a claim against Kevin Spacey emerged while he was starring in the Netflix show “House of Cards.”In an interview with BuzzFeed News, Anthony Rapp, best known for his role in the musical “Rent,” alleged that in 1986, when he was 14, Mr. Spacey picked him up, placed him on a bed and laid down on top of him, making a “sexual advance.”Mr. Rapp told the publication that the encounter occurred around the time both actors were in Broadway shows and that Mr. Spacey, then 26, invited him to a gathering at his Manhattan apartment. Mr. Rapp told BuzzFeed he was able to “squirm” away and leave.Mr. Spacey has denied the allegation.In 2020, Mr. Rapp sued Mr. Spacey, accusing him of assault, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress. A judge dismissed the assault claim, but on Thursday, lawyers delivered their opening statements about the other claims before a 12-person jury in Federal District Court in Manhattan. Testimony begins on Friday.Mr. Spacey, who faces criminal sexual assault charges in Britain in a separate case, has been accused of sexual misconduct by more than a dozen men. This is the first time one of those claims has reached a trial.After Mr. Rapp’s public accusation, TV and film producers quickly dropped Mr. Spacey from projects. His character was written out of “House of Cards,” and he was ultimately ordered to pay the studio $31 million for breach of contract. Mr. Rapp currently stars in the TV show “Star Trek: Discovery.”Mr. Spacey, now 63, initially released a statement saying he did not recall the encounter that Mr. Rapp, now 50, had described, saying, “But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior.” In court papers submitted following the lawsuit, Mr. Spacey has vehemently denied that the incident ever occurred.Anthony Rapp said Spacey made a “sexual advance” when Rapp was 14.Slaven Vlasic/Getty ImagesWhat is Mr. Rapp’s side telling the jury?In opening statements on Thursday, a lawyer for Mr. Rapp, Peter J. Saghir, described how Mr. Spacey invited Mr. Rapp to a party at his apartment in 1986, after they met while performing in separate Broadway shows. Mr. Rapp, who was 14 at the time, decided to sit on the edge of Mr. Spacey’s bed watching television instead of mingling with strangers who were older than him, Mr. Saghir told the jury.Mr. Rapp then saw Mr. Spacey enter the bedroom and realized the other guests had left, his lawyer said. Mr. Spacey picked Mr. Rapp up in his arms, Mr. Saghir said, describing the position like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold. According to Mr. Rapp’s account, Mr. Spacey appeared drunk and laid down on top of him, pressing his pelvis into the side of Mr. Rapp’s hip.“I recall being frozen and shocked and upset and scared,” Mr. Rapp said in an earlier deposition.As Mr. Rapp left Mr. Spacey’s apartment, Mr. Saghir told the jury, the older actor leaned into the doorway and asked, “Are you sure you want to go?”Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have argued that this account constitutes battery and that Mr. Rapp suffered severe emotional distress, including depression and anxiety. Battery is legally defined as “the unjustified touching of another person, without that person’s consent, with the intent to cause a bodily contact that a reasonably prudent person would find offensive.” The plaintiff’s side is expected to tell the jury about accounts Mr. Rapp gave to others in the years after the alleged incident. In opening statements, Mr. Saghir also homed in on Mr. Spacey’s statement after the BuzzFeed article, noting that he did not strongly deny Mr. Rapp’s account until his lawsuit was filed.How is Mr. Spacey’s side defending the actor?A lawyer for Mr. Spacey, Jennifer L. Keller, described Mr. Spacey’s initial statement concerning the allegations as the product of a “panic” among his managers and advisers, who advised him to take a certain tone to avoid the “social media mob.”Behind the scenes, Ms. Keller said in court, Mr. Spacey was saying he had no memory of what Mr. Rapp described. In court papers, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers said that he had flatly denied Mr. Rapp’s account, that he had recalled meeting Mr. Rapp on a few occasions but that those interactions were “peripheral and limited.” When seeking to dismiss the case, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers emphasized in court papers that “by plaintiff’s own admission, there was no groping, no kissing, no undressing, no reaching under clothes, and no sexualized statements or innuendo.”Ms. Keller accused Mr. Rapp of making the allegations to benefit his own career and attract public attention. “It’s not a true story, but he did tell it a lot,” she said, acknowledging that there were people who would recall Mr. Rapp’s telling them about Mr. Spacey in the following years.Ms. Keller alleged that Mr. Rapp had fabricated the story by borrowing details from “Precious Sons,” the Broadway play he was in that year. She said that in the play a character drunkenly mistakes his son, played by Mr. Rapp, for his wife, picking him up and laying on top of him in a way that mirrors Mr. Rapp’s allegations.Mr. Spacey’s team has also focused on his apartment at the time, presenting a floor plan that did not align with details in Mr. Rapp’s account.Who is expected to testify?Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have asserted that Mr. Rapp was not the only victim of sexual misconduct by Mr. Spacey, and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan has agreed to allow another accuser to testify.That accuser, Andy Holtzman, says that in 1981, Mr. Spacey groped his genitals and rubbed his groin on Mr. Holtzman. In a deposition, Mr. Spacey denied Mr. Holtzman’s allegations, saying he did not recall any dealings with him.Mr. Spacey’s lawyers have indicated that one of their key witnesses may be John Barrowman, an actor known for his role in the TV show “Doctor Who.” He was an acquaintance of Mr. Rapp when they were teenagers and visited him in New York in 1986 to see “Precious Sons.” Mr. Barrowman and Mr. Rapp met Mr. Spacey backstage at a play, Mr. Spacey’s lawyers said, asserting that Mr. Barrowman’s account of events that year do not align with Mr. Rapp’s.Both sides are likely to call witnesses who have said that Mr. Rapp told them about the allegations, and Mr. Spacey’s lawyers may call Adam Vary, the BuzzFeed journalist who wrote the initial article.Why is Mr. Rapp able to bring this claim now?Because Mr. Rapp’s claims extend beyond the statute of limitations, he is relying on a law called the Child Victims Act, which New York State passed in 2019. It included a “look-back window” — a limited period of time in which people who say they were sexually abused as children could sue.The plaintiff and the defense dispute whether the law applies in this case.Mr. Spacey’s lawyers assert that based on the legislation, a plaintiff can revive claims only if they constitute a “sexual offense” that violates penal law, and they argue that Mr. Rapp’s allegations do not meet that threshold. Mr. Rapp’s lawyers have said that sexual contact, under the law, can include touching over the clothing or forcefully holding the victim, as their client alleges. What has become of other legal claims against Mr. Spacey?Mr. Rapp originally sued with an anonymous plaintiff, who alleged that he was a teenager when Mr. Spacey sexually assaulted him while working as an acting coach in the 1980s. Judge Kaplan ruled that the plaintiff would have to identify himself publicly if he wanted to continue on to trial, which he declined to do.In another case, in 2019, prosecutors in Massachusetts dropped a sexual assault charge after the accuser was warned that he could be charged with a felony if he had deleted phone evidence. The man, who had accused Mr. Spacey of fondling him at a Nantucket restaurant when he was 18, refused to continue his testimony.Later that year, a separate lawsuit in California that had accused Mr. Spacey of sexually assaulting a massage therapist was dropped after the plaintiff died.In Britain, Mr. Spacey is facing four charges of sexual assault as well as one of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. He pleaded not guilty, and a trial is expected to start next summer. More

    • 150 Shares149 Views

      in Television

      Lisa McGee Found it Hard to Say Goodbye to Her ‘Derry Girls’

      by

      The Northern Irish writer said that she had never felt so close to a group of characters. Now, the show’s third and final season is arriving on Netflix.LONDON — In 1990s Northern Ireland, Lisa McGee and her friends decided to skip school to go to a concert. They were caught when one of the group posed for a photograph at the event, which then ended up on the front page of a local newspaper and was seen by her parents.“I’ll never forget that story because of how delighted my friend was in that photograph compared to the trouble she got in. It was just the perfect contrast,” McGee, 42, recalled in a recent video interview. She added: “I remember her saying it was worth it. I think she got grounded for life.”That was just one of many childhood experiences McGee drew on for her TV comedy, “Derry Girls,” which follows a group of chaotic and accident-prone friends and their families. The show, while joyous, is set during the Troubles — the violent, decades-long sectarian conflict that defined the region until the late ’90s.Like her characters, McGee attended a Roman Catholic school in Derry, and, like the show’s central figure, Erin, she grew up wanting to be a writer. The third and final season of “Derry Girls” arrives Friday on Netflix after airing in Britain this year, and McGee admitted that she had been struggling to let go.“I was connected to those characters in a way that I think is probably not entirely healthy,” she said. She kept notebooks filled with details for each of them, she added, and even now, lines for the characters still come to her. “It was really hard to stop talking to them,” she said.In the recent interview, McGee discussed growing up in Derry, which is also known as Londonderry; the joys of being ridiculous; and bringing the show to a close. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.When did you realize your childhood could be fodder for a show?When I moved to London, there were a few of my Northern Irish friends that moved over at the same time. And I remember being out in the pub and talking about stuff that happened to us and there was just horror on English people’s faces. We normalize this stuff that English people were like, “That’s not normal, lads, that’s weird.” I realized there’s something really funny about this, that this little pocket, this little place has normalized all this crazy stuff.I’d always felt that my group of friends at school were funny, and I’d always wanted to write something about a group of female teenagers who were the leads and were being the ridiculous people, not just the “friend” or “sister.”You’ve said in the past that, growing up, you didn’t want to write about the Troubles. What changed for you?Well, the truth is, I wasn’t going to. I was going to set the show in the modern day and it was actually my executive producer, Liz Lewin, who had been in pubs with me and my friends, listening to all these stories and said, “You’re really missing a trick, I really think you should try and do a period piece.” I just thought it was a headache, it’s too complicated, people wouldn’t understand. But I’m so glad she convinced me because the minute I started writing it, it gave me the chance to explain some things, and talk about some things that maybe people in the rest of the U.K. didn’t know about.But yeah, I just found the Troubles so boring. It was all that was on the news and I wanted to be a writer because I liked the escape, the fantasy of it all. So I still can’t believe this is the thing that has been the most successful thing for me.The show’s central character, Erin (played by Jackson), right, wants to be a writer, like the show’s creator.Hat Trick Productions and NetflixThe stars and heart of the show are the women and girls. How influential were the women you grew up around, what were they like?When I went to university, I realized Derry was different from all other places. The women, traditionally, were the breadwinners because it was a factory town and, apart from shirt factories, there wasn’t any other employment really, so a lot of the men were unemployed. So we grew up in this sort of weird society where the dads were looking after the kids and the mums were going to work.I also went to an all-girls convent school, so the cleverest person was a girl, the sports hero was a girl, the class clown was a girl. Growing up, everyone who was powerful or interesting or funny was female. I never questioned that we should be those things when I grew up, because women were very rock ’n’ roll where I came from, very forthright and very funny and ballsy and tough. That’s what I knew, and it only started to sort of fall apart when I grew up a bit.On “Derry Girls,” the girls aren’t aged up or put in particularly adult situations. They are ridiculous and embarrassing in ways that feel very true to teenagers. Was that a conscious choice?Part of it was just that was what was truthful — I was that ridiculous person. It was definitely a conscious decision for them not to be sexualized. I feel that’s the story that’s told over and over again about teenage girls. I always felt like, yes, that’s part of it, but our panic about not getting good grades was up there along with what boys we wanted to get with. Our ambition was one of the biggest things about my group of friends, that panic about failing or not getting into university, not getting a good job, all that sort of stuff. There was also the importance of your relationship with your other friends, that gang, that group, how important their opinions were.As young people, how present were the dangers of the Troubles for you and your friends?Now, looking back, you really lose your breath thinking about how dangerous things were, but we weren’t really scared. Not really. But we should have been. There were armed soldiers on our streets, outside our houses and lots of other gunmen in balaclavas floating about on the other side of things. It’s what you know; we didn’t overthink it. It actually, weirdly, started to really affect me and my friends after the Good Friday Agreement. When peace times started, we realized that what happened wasn’t OK, and there was a hope that things wouldn’t go back to the way they were.The realities of the violence were so dark, yet “Derry Girls” maintained a lightness. How did you think about the show’s tone?I always just thought about it through their eyes, how they would see it. For most teenagers, their views are very selfish, it’s like, “How can I make this about me?” and for the adults, it’s just a bit of an inconvenience most of the time, as it would have been.There’s a line in an episode where Michelle says there’s something sexy about the fact they hate us so much. Everything has its spin. So Michelle’s always thinking about sex, and Erin, quite a pompous character, loves the idea of it and writes about being a child of conflict and all of that.What I decided was that most of the story has to be about whatever the gang are trying to do that week, with the Troubles normally getting in the way of it.The show ends on an episode set around the time of the 1998 Good Friday agreement, and the declaration of peace. Why did you choose that as the show’s end point?I feel like that was the day Northern Ireland grew up, that vote and that phenomenal, phenomenal thing. That was the day we put all the pain and suffering behind us for the greater good. And I wanted to run that parallel to the kids’ growing up. It’s the beginning of their adulthood, just as Northern Ireland is walking into this new phase of its life. It always felt like that’s where I should naturally end the show, this hope and the positivity of the agreement and them going out into the big, bad world. More