I dont really care too much about plot twists or anything, but I was in a play this week and there was a pretty big twist there. I'll put it in spoilers since even though it's a new piece of writing done specifically for my university by a student, there was talk of it potentially going to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Be prepare for a lot of text from here on in...
By the way, I just realised this must be the most complex set of spoiler tags I've ever used...
Right, basically the play is called The Ferryman and it's a modern retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus:
So there's the myth. In the actual play, this is retold in a jazz bar in 1950's Chicago, where the new piano player Will meets the singer Kate and the have an affair. Kate's manager Lockwood, who loves her, but also happens to be her cocaine dealer, doesn't like Will much (naturally), and halfway through the month Kate gets killed. The suspects are Lockwood, bar owner Mac, a shady hooker, and Will's best friend, the saxophonist Johnny. The play takes place in November in alternating order, starting at the end of the month and going backwards and forwards until converging on Kate's death on the 15th November. It's actually cleverly written so we don't find out who's to blame until the final scenes despite starting 15 days after Kate's murder. Here's the twist:
So that is the most memorable twist in a story that I can think of right now.
However, that's nothing compared to what one audience member thought. He saw me in the play, since I was just an extra so basically sit at a table drinking whiskey and acting drunk through the performance. The guy actually thought, since I sat and did nothing for the whole play, that I would suddenly leap up at the end with a Tommy Gun and kill all the main characters, thereby establishing me as the twist and main villain. That got a few laughs when he told us after the show...
In the myth, Orpheus was a travelling lyre player who goes busking in different Greek cities, and meets and falls in love with a woman called Euridyce. They begin an affair but she soon dies of a snake bite. Orpheus journeys to Hell to save her, but when he meets Hades and Persephone (the big guns), they decide to screw with his mind. He can have his lover back only if she walks behind him and he doesn't turn around to look at her until they're both out of Hell. Naturally the idiot gets out, turns round while she's on the edge, and he's a second away from having her back, but because the fool looked she goes back to Hell forever. What a twat.
So there's the myth. In the actual play, this is retold in a jazz bar in 1950's Chicago, where the new piano player Will meets the singer Kate and the have an affair. Kate's manager Lockwood, who loves her, but also happens to be her cocaine dealer, doesn't like Will much (naturally), and halfway through the month Kate gets killed. The suspects are Lockwood, bar owner Mac, a shady hooker, and Will's best friend, the saxophonist Johnny. The play takes place in November in alternating order, starting at the end of the month and going backwards and forwards until converging on Kate's death on the 15th November. It's actually cleverly written so we don't find out who's to blame until the final scenes despite starting 15 days after Kate's murder. Here's the twist:
Kate is actually killed by mistake. Mac wants Will dead because if Will has his way Kate will leave Mac's bar to become a singer in Will's new musical about Orpheus, which would leave Mac high and dry. So Mac, who appears to be a good guy, orders Will's death but it backfires and Kate is killed instead. Lockwood, although he's set up as the bad guy and hates Will anyway, actually tries to save Will but gets killed shortly afterwards by Mac's guys.
So that is the most memorable twist in a story that I can think of right now.
However, that's nothing compared to what one audience member thought. He saw me in the play, since I was just an extra so basically sit at a table drinking whiskey and acting drunk through the performance. The guy actually thought, since I sat and did nothing for the whole play, that I would suddenly leap up at the end with a Tommy Gun and kill all the main characters, thereby establishing me as the twist and main villain. That got a few laughs when he told us after the show...
By the way, I just realised this must be the most complex set of spoiler tags I've ever used...
