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Indictment and rage against a broken police system.Summary
Rating
Excellent
Sergeant Boyd Sully (John Colella), a 29-year veteran of the LAPD, shot and killed David Mason, a young Black motorist. He describes it as a good shooting; he had a reason to stop the car and question Mason, and then he had a reason to shoot. A day later, the administrative meeting to discuss the event is just standard procedure. The fact that it is led by LaRhonda Parker (June Carryl), an old family friend and the wife of his ex-partner, should make this easier.
Sully uses LAPD procedures as his defence. Everything he did was procedure, and he has an answer for everything that could come straight from the police handbook. When this starts to fray a little, with Parker drawing out inconsistencies in his story, Sully weaponizes their history to distract and change the focus. The two colleagues go back a long way and have spent much time socialising. Surely, this is all just a formality and everyone can carry on? After all, they’ve been fishing together, and as he reminds her, Sully “voted for Obama” – how can he be a racist? Smart writing lets both characters use their history to distract; Sully relies on this, becoming more and more aware that his links to the Capitol Attack and his history of violence against people of colour could damn him here.
The script, also by Carryl, is sharp with high tension within their back and forth, which includes barbed comedy. As Sully talks about the changes in the world, even suggesting he, a straight white man, is being replaced, Parker snaps back, “John Wayne was a white supremacist.” Their shared history, their friendship – even their same job, doesn’t change how different their worlds can be and, in some cases, how far apart their worlds are.
Both actors excel. Colella is initially a nervous but jovial presence. Then, as his mask slips and his story falls apart, the rage and hatred he keeps underneath becomes apparent. “Protect and Serve”, but “Blue Lives Matter”, and what use are pronouns in a world that he feels is slipping away from him? Carryl lets Parker’s own mask slip; she knows there is more to this story. As she pieces it all together, the sheer rage at yet another white man being able to wilfully shoot a young Black man with the flimsiest pretext is palpable. Parker is particularly effective in turning Sully’s plan against him. She’s seen through the recounting of their history from the start, but when she, in turn, uses this against Sully, he falls for it.
Blue ends with a wallop. Carryl begins to list the names of people killed by police in America. She breaks down with heavy tears, and a recording takes over. The lights go off and the names go on and on and on. The number is horrifying, and the fact that some names are known globally is equally horrifying. The programme notes that three people are killed by police every day in the USA. Over the run of this show, that will be more than 60 new names. Blue is powerfully written and performed and, unfortunately, timely.
Written by: June Carryl
Directed by: Michael Matthews
Blue plays at Seven Dials Playhouse until 30 March. Further information and bookings can be found here.
