Yo listen up, here’s a blog post about a show called Bluets by Margaret Perry and all day and all night (for 80 minutes) everything they see is just blue, like them, inside and outside. Parody lyrics aside, I was captivated by this show. This wonderful amalgamation of film and theatre is a very unique experience that I think can only be appreciated as a fringe production. The story is so intimate and the character portrayed is so real that I felt myself transcending the theatre space and living in the blue reality of this struggling woman. I know I say this a lot, but I was blown away by this play.
The technical elements of the show were absolutely fascinating. They used a blending of film and theatre by having live actors stationed in front of changing screens that would take the character to different locations when broadcasted live on the giant screen above the stage. The actors also used various props handed to them seamlessly by stage hands to influence the scene. It took me a while for my brain to adjust between watching the actors and watching the live movie above them, but once I got the hang of the situation, I locked in and it was great. The cast was also very interesting because the play itself only has one character, but there are three actors. These actors share the same clothes, make the same movements, have the same inflections, and yet all of them bring a whole new side of this one character to life. It is also representative to me of how blue is a universal human experience that anyone can go through.
I have been trying to find words that will capture the essence of the play and the pure soul displayed onstage, and although it seems a bit cliche and obvious, all I can think of is blue. This play is about a blue woman living in the blue world with a deep, unconditional obsession and love of the color blue. Blue makes sense to her when nothing else does. Because it is adapted from an autobiographical book of poetry and lyric, the script is told from first person through the eyes of the author, but it is addressed to us, the audience, who sometimes represent the character’s former lover. A phrase repeated a lot throughout the show is “the last time I saw you” referring to the last time she saw her lover. This is brought up more and more throughout the play as her feelings about the situation and its reality are revealed.
I usually prefer comedies to dramas. I find it easier to laugh at the tragedy of the world rather than live in it for 80 minutes, but it is important to go outside of my comfort zone. If I only see things that will make me feel happy, I will miss out on a beautiful, somber color. Bluets gave me a new perspective on the world that I had never put to words before. It is ok to feel blue as long as you remember to “look up.” These final words hit me hard and provided the perfect melancholy ending to this wonderful production. After everything we see this character go through, it is a reminder to the character, and to the audience that she always has the ability to take solace in her favorite color by looking up at the sky.
As Eiffel 65 once sang “Blue are the words I say / And what I think / Blue are the feelings / That live inside me.” It is plays like Bluets that remind me to keep pushing the boundaries of theatre as a way of forming a meaningful connection with the audience and sharing a beautiful message. I am blue, da ba dee da ba di.
Cheers!
Theatre in London U of A 