Mental multivitamin: The recommended daily allowance

Slings & Arrows, Season Three

Two Saturdays ago, Mr. M-mv and I, well, we... [lowering voice to a whisper] we watched all six episodes of the season between 6 and 11 p.m. Yes, all two hundred eighty-five minutes.

Perfect and brilliant and perfectly brilliant.

Related posts here and here.

What follows is a scene from the second episode of the third season, "Vex Not His Ghost," in which the rehearsals for Lear and the musical are juxtaposed:

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: Once, there was an old king. Who, after many years of reign, realized he was at the end of his life.

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: This is the story of a junkie hooker named LuLu, and her fight to kick the horse.

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: The King announced that he was going to divide up the kingdom amongst his daughters: Regan, Goneril, and his favorite, Cordelia. But first, he had a question for them. 'Which of you shall we say doest love us most?'

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: And so David, the gentle stockbroker-slash-john, he tells LuLu that he's leaving for Seattle and after one last night of passion, he leaves her an envelope with twenty crisp one hundred dollar bills inside. So, LuLu has a choice.

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: So Cordelia has a choice. Does she flatter him, like her sisters, or does she risk everything, and tell her father the truth?

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: Does she escape East Hastings, or does she get higher than she's ever gotten before? (He sings.) 'I hate the needle, I hate the needle, I hate the needle, but I love the trip!'

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: His anger is boundless. He banishes Cordelia, he banishes the faithful Kent, and Goneril and Regan seize their opportunity.

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: She's so high. She's too high. (He sings.) 'She's too high-igh-igh-igh-igh-igh!'

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: They drive their father out of doors into a fierce thunderstorm, and there, on the heath, with his Fool and the disguised Kent begging him to take shelter, he rages against his daughter's ingratitude. He's gone mad.

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: And it's there in the mental ward that LuLu begins to sing: (He sings.) 'Wasn't long ago my soul was dyin', wasn't long ago I thought my life was too absurd. Now I've got it figured out, forgive me if I shout, I'm tryin', tryin' to be heard, I'm tryin' to be heard, tryin' to be heard!'

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: The old man sleeps, and when he wakes, Cordelia is there, as if in a vision, and the king and his daughter embrace with tears of joy. They're sent to prison, but they're resigned, happy even, because they're together. And poor Cordelia is hanged. And as Lear cradles her dead body, his spirit finally breaks. And he dies.

(East Hastings rehearsal.)
NIGEL: And suddenly, David appears. He's returned from Seattle. He's a record producer now! (He sings.) 'We don't need the needle, we don't need the needle, we don't need the needle to be free!'

(Lear rehearsal.)
CHARLES: And the moral? Well, perhaps you could tell me.