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A review by sparky_young_upstart
William Shakespeare's The Empire Striketh Back by Ian Doescher
5.0
Another great outing for Doescher. The hallmarks of the series are more pronounced here, and many of my complaints about "Verily" were apparently common enough that he took them to heart and adjusted the way the play runs. The Chorus is used less, allowing the other characters to say more and be fleshed out more. This is especially present in Lando, who we're able to see right from the get go is a man trapped between handing his friend over to the Empire or losing his colony and citizens to their rule. He also plays with the style - introducing a lowborn prose-speaking character in Boba Fett, and having Yoda speak in haikus to add to his ancient and alien presence overall.
The development of Han and Leia's relationship is as great as it was in the movie, if not better thanks to their several monologues and asides professing how they are falling for the other despite them having aspects that the other simply can't stand. Even some rhyming couplets reminiscent of Anakin and Padme are snuck into their speeches when they become close.
My favourite thing, though, is that the big moments of Empire - Han and Leia's love confession and Vader revealing himself as Anakin - are preserved almost in their entirety instead of being transformed into big monologues as I expected. And really, you can't mess with those moments too much or they lose their impact. Instead, Doescher gives Leia a monologue following Han's freezing in order to capture more of her emotional state. Vader gets a monologue before his moment to help build it up, and afterwards both he and Luke get dialogue expressing the fallout from the situation - Vader's belief that Luke can still be turned, and Luke's despair being tapered by the fact that he did not give in to darkness to strike Vader down.
The whole thing is masterfully done, and as we rocket towards the original play trilogy I cannot wait to see what is in store. I hope he keeps Jedi Rocks.
The development of Han and Leia's relationship is as great as it was in the movie, if not better thanks to their several monologues and asides professing how they are falling for the other despite them having aspects that the other simply can't stand. Even some rhyming couplets reminiscent of Anakin and Padme are snuck into their speeches when they become close.
My favourite thing, though, is that the big moments of Empire - Han and Leia's love confession and Vader revealing himself as Anakin - are preserved almost in their entirety instead of being transformed into big monologues as I expected. And really, you can't mess with those moments too much or they lose their impact. Instead, Doescher gives Leia a monologue following Han's freezing in order to capture more of her emotional state. Vader gets a monologue before his moment to help build it up, and afterwards both he and Luke get dialogue expressing the fallout from the situation - Vader's belief that Luke can still be turned, and Luke's despair being tapered by the fact that he did not give in to darkness to strike Vader down.
The whole thing is masterfully done, and as we rocket towards the original play trilogy I cannot wait to see what is in store. I hope he keeps Jedi Rocks.