Television Series Review: Station Eleven- Creator: Patrick Somerville- On HBO Max
Entertainment brings people together no matter the circumstance. The television mini-series Station Eleven is proof of this. Set in an apocalyptic world this show follows a group of traveling Shakespeare Performers who call themselves The Traveling Symphony. They are survivors of the deadly flu that has knocked out most of the world's population. They spend their days going around to different cities to perform plays. In this blog post, I will be giving an overview of the series and discussing topics such as acting and costume design. That way you can decide for yourself if this show is for you or not.
Station Eleven is based off of Emily St. John Mandel’s novel written in 2014. The television series was released in 2021. I read the novel back when it was released and I was very excited to recently realize they adapted it into a show. As a person who loves literature and film, I get really excited when works of literature come to life through performance. It is a goal of mine, as an actress, to act in a series or movie that was based on some form of written work. I enjoy seeing my characters come to life and I am always curious to see how they are portrayed in the film compared to my mind. If you are like me and enjoy comparing adaptations then you should definitely watch Station Eleven.
The show is rated TV-MA for violence, gore, drug use, and harsh language. That aside, the show is aesthetically pleasing with all of its extravagant set work. The costumes made for the Traveling Symphony’s performance of Hamlet is brilliant. The clothing is constructed out of various, everyday objects that one might find lying around in an apocalyptic ruin. Yet the way the items are construed together to make an outfit looks like something out of a Vogue magazine. The detail in the design for this show is breathtaking.
Furthermore, I was very captivated by the casting and acting. Matilda Lawler who plays young Kirsten really looks like the older Kirsten and I appreciate the accuracy. Matilda did a great job acting and her role was not an easy one to take on. So, given that she is a young actress I was very impressed with her ability to show heavy emotions. I loved the chemistry between Mackenzie Davis who plays Kirsten and Philippine Velge who plays Alex. I felt that their bond was real and genuine. Also, I thought it was very playful the way the creators showed how Kirsten was growing into her caretaker, Jeevan played by Himesh Patel. Specifically, how they showed Kirsten going from child to adult. The showing of a shift in responsibility and the passage of time was very moving and made me more sympathetic toward all the characters.
There is a lot of love and loss in this show. You grow very empathetic towards all the characters, even the ones who you may think are the villains in the beginning. I felt that the show was particularly intense to watch in the year 2023 because of COVID. Watching apocalyptic shows involving a pandemic will never be the same. Nevertheless, I feel that science fiction shows are still fun to watch. However, now when I watch them I am more grateful that things did not get as bad, in real life, as they did in Station Eleven.
Thus, if you like a show that takes you on an adventure and enjoy the theatrical arts, I highly recommend you give Station Eleven a watch. Thanks for reading I hope you found this blog post insightful.
