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A raw and impassioned presentation of sustained female grief, portrayed simultaneously by three actors using Live Cinema techniques in the ultimate manifestation of a fractured mind.Summary
Rating
Good
Fresh from sustained and well deserved success at the New Diorama, the Royal Court’s new Artistic Director David Byrne presents his first production programmed for the Jerwood Theatre downstairs: Bluets. Byrne is clear about his intention to continue the Royal Court’s tradition of championing British playwriting and this choice takes a poetic memoir by Maggie Nelson, adapted for the stage by Margaret Perry. In the programme we are reminded how honoured we are to experience this as Nelson rarely allows her work to be seen through any other medium than the written word.
Bluets is an extraordinary piece of writing focusing on the interior monologue of a young woman suffering from severe depression over a three-year period, following a particularly fraught breakup. She is obsessed by the colour blue, her life defined by it: in collections of miscellaneous items that symbolically decay over time, academic research, Greek myth, song, and of course the association with low mood.
In addition, Bluets plays with traditional form using the medium of Live Cinema. For the uninformed (yup, me…) this is a hybrid art form between theatre and film. In other words, actors on stage have cameras in front of them live-filming their actions whilst props are moved frenetically in and out of their space for them to use as needed. This is interwoven with sequences previously filmed and displayed on smaller screens that stand behind each actor, the result projected onto a large screen at the top of the stage as a live action film. Are you with me?! Safe to say it is phenomenally clever and engaging. But also, not theatre as we know it Jim…
Three actors act out the character’s thoughts: character A: Ben Wishaw, B: Emma D’Arcy and C: Kayla Meikle. All are overwhelmingly accomplished: raw and heart breaking in their honest and brutal portrayal of a fractured mind with repeated sequences emphasising the circular reality of depression. The chosen sounds meld seamlessly with the mood of the action, from depressed introspection to frenetic activity: not quite articulated song, but more than a backing track. The three cope seamlessly with endless prop movements and clothing changes, all physically very different but obviously parts of the same whole emphasised by clothing choices. At times they act in sequence, their limbs moulding together to form an entwined image for the back screen.
So, what do we think? Live art (in this case theatre) should challenge form and ideas. Otherwise, why bother? And of course, every time a “new” form is presented, half the audience will recoil in horror or confusion, while the other half will embrace it wildly (which is pretty much how the audience reacted tonight). My own thoughts are that, clever though the choreography is, generating a visual illusion in front of our eyes, the prop manoeuvres by semi visible stage crew are off putting, interrupting the visual presentation, often unnecessarily. The cameras that are in front of each actor live streaming significantly intrude on sightlines, so our vision is directed to the large cinema size screen at the top of the stage. And this just detracts from the beauty of those words portrayed so movingly by the actors in the ultimate manifestation of a splintered mind.
Written by: Maggie Nelson
Written and adapted by: Margaret Perry
Directed by: Katie Mitchell
Design by: Alex Eales
Video direction by: Grant Gee
Video design by: Ellie Thompson
Lighting design by: Anthony Doran
Bluets plays at Royal Court Theatre until 29 June. Further information and bookings can be found here.
