Anyone who has ever tried to produce a theatre event has
probably experienced the modern version of the deus ex machina phenomenon. Up
until opening night everything that can go wrong seemingly does go wrong, and
it looks as if the show will never come together. Everyone is grumpy and
starting to scream at each other, on the verge of calling it all off.
Then, magically, on opening night everything works - the actors remember their
entrances and exits, their lines and their blocking, the music and lights come
on and go off when they should, the audience laughs at the right times for the
right reasons, and everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief. By some miracle it
all worked. The deus came down in the machina and made it all right. That’s
probably how the Greek dramatists got the idea because in theatre the
unbelievable really does happen behind the scenes.
Tech people are the bane of my life as a producer. It’s easy
to find actors, because they all love their time on stage. Being on stage is
its own reward. Playing a role well is like being skillful at a sport that
requires a lot of concentration and coordination, all the while being cheered
on by a crowd. Designing and running sound and lights is an invisible,
thankless job that everyone takes for granted. The lights and sound appear to come from nowhere, seamlessly integrated with the events on stage.
Every time our little playwrights’ group puts on a show, the
question arises of who will run tech. All too often the people who say they want to
do tech are completely unreliable and after their initial one or two contacts
we never hear from them again. Then somehow, magically, a person drops from the
sky offering to run tech and all is well. It happened again with the show that
opens this Friday. We theoretically had a tech director, but I hadn’t heard from
him in weeks and was waking up at night in a panic, wondering if he’d bailed.
Day before yesterday I finally got hold of him, and our lighting setup and sound
testing yesterday was the smoothest we’ve ever had. Deus ex machina saved the day again.
Of course, for this blog I had to think how to relate the
topic to perfume, but it’s really pretty easy. I’m sure we’ve all been dismayed
to put on a perfume that smelled awful, but after some time did an about-face
and ended up smelling wonderful. Which perfume(s) have you experienced that
were saved in the end by an olfactory deus ex machina? Leave a comment and be
entered in a drawing for a set of interesting fragrant samples, to be searched
out from my infinite store. The drawing will be on Monday, October 27.
[Images from Literature Wiki and a site called TVTropes that
Google coughed up.]
Hi Ellen,
ReplyDeleteBvlgari Black is my candidate for the deus ex machina effect (award). B. Black is such a big machine fitted out with oversized tires. At first spray I find myself smelling like a monster truck rally until some deus or other (incarnate as vanilla, leather and jasmine) saves the day. The pleasant dry down doesn't altogether redeem Black for me but the contrast between the burnt rubber opening and the pleasant dry down is, at least, interesting. That being said, I don't wear it.
Gail
Such an interesting question! My nominee might be Byredo 1996 (though with multiple wearings, I have gotten quite used to the earthy-spicy opening and now love it). I think I much prefer the deus ex machina effect (as long as it doesn't last TOO long) to the boring or unpleasant drydown of many other perfumes.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question I might say. I first head of deus ex machina when playing theater of oppressed, but never related it with perfumes.
ReplyDeleteI will go with the Accord Oud by Byredo.
That happens often to me, it smells awful on me and then I give it to my father and the perfume turns into the one I would love to have...(Déclaration de Cartier, le 3eme homme de Caron, Habanita,...)
ReplyDelete