I thought about what I wanted to write about in this blog post, and in attempting to relate my experience to theatre I went on a scavenger hunt at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I did what the character from Bluets did in several scenes when strolling the museum. Walking through museums and art galleries, I searched for blue. I found a piece that was infiltrated by a few shades of green. Hanging in the main entrance was a phallic glass art piece suspended over the front desk, befitting the Bluets as the show was about sexuality and intimacy in the midst of heartbreak. Chaotic, engaging, and twisted, this piece of art made me recollect all of these themes and actions of the experience. It was extremely modern and full of life, just like Bluets. I think hanging a work of art like that at the entrance of the museum sets the tone of the space. A mix of art and history, modern and old, artifact and revolutionary. It is a distinguishing of the museum and the sign of a well-curated place.
The Bluets has been on my mind since we saw that amazing work of live cinema. The metaphor of the illusion and obsession for the color blue to mask pain, grief, and longing is so powerful and creative. We each have to heal in our own ways, it is unrealistic to say pain truly and completely heals with time. It takes a bit of effort every day, at least at the start, to try moving on. Degrees of distraction and forgetting are required. Especially when it comes to breakups, the grief sets in as the reality and nature of the relationship become apparent. The infatuation and image of love and what it felt like to be with them falls to the floor. Everything you did and became for them, little changes of mannerisms or way of dressing finally fall away. It slowly puddles and oozes on the ground, and all you are left with is yourself. Wholistically. You evolve and change because you can’t really return to the person you were before this lived experience. Because you learned. So you’re just there, feeling heartbroken. Maybe you feel lied to, maybe you feel guilty, maybe you feel proud, or maybe you feel cleaner or lighter. Maybe you’re numb. There’s this feeling of sickness that settles in as well, you’re sick of dreaming about them, or feeling horny for them, or missing them, or having them creep back into your thoughts. You just have a moment where you want to stop feeling anything at all for them, you’re sick of caring and wish to feel sweet indifference. Bluets encaptured this process and so much more. The realism of it all was astounding as we watched our character go through a very relatable process. The character could look like anyone or be any gender or age. All three of the actors portraying the same person were able to completely separate their identities to play this part. This forced the audience to focus on the actions and everything surrounding the character, instead of the character themself.
The work was perfectly adapted to live entertainment. Live cinema was the way to go, as the camera was able to focus and condense this story. It added these interesting blinders to cue the audience on what the director and writer wanted them to see. To see it under the same lens and in the same light. Lighting, tech, props, and costumes were crucial to indicate the passing of time over months and years. And with no intermission, the audience was locked under a trance and spell. The audience had to endure the life of this character, they didn’t get a break or time to process. This added another layer of realism, as we don’t get to take a break from our lives and situations. We are stuck in these bodies, in these environments, in this century.
The escapism that was found, was through scenes with blue. When displaying the collection of blue things, the lighting changed and the dialogue became softer. We could find solace and relief in these moments, the same way the character did. It made us understand what I had previously thought to be a sick and ridiculous thing, because how could one possibly fall in love with a color? Feel intimate, seen, loved, or released, from merely a color?
Theatre in London U of A 