Maggie Nelson’s acclaimed novel travels to the London stage in this new adaptation originally developed in the Hamburg scene. Guillermo Nazara shares his views on the production, to let us know if this ethereal montage manages to show its true colours .
I’ve fallen in love with the colour blue. Well, you would think it’s blue. But what you don’t know is that it’s not blue, it’s not turquoise – it’s actually cerulean… You saw it coming, and you couldn’t have enough – admit it. It’s not that uncommon that we hear of people growing fond of the most unexpected, unusual, and unimaginable things – your partner was the last addition to my list. What we are rarely told about is people developing a romantic relationship with colour – let alone, a particular kind. Could it be that something so incredibly mundane can become the focus of our joy? Or even, turn into our obsession?
To conclude its spring season, the Royal Court has taken his experimental essence to a whole new level with Bluets, a new play by Margarett Perry, bringing chromatic psychedelia to the stage through a translucent melange of pigmented sensations. Based on Maggie Nelson’s popular novel, the piece splits the lead (and practically, sole) character into three simultaneous narrators – creating a rhythmical flow of words pouring into our ears and beguiling our senses.
There’s not much of a story to be gripped by. There’s action, but it’s primarily a introspective (and much unresolved) journey of meditation that’s been offered. And though we may not be entirely seduced by what, in the end, feels like an hour-long exposition with some subtle signs of evolution, it’s its visually captivating montage that manages to entice us with an ever-going display of aesthetic awe.
Presented as a live recording session, where the performers interpret their lines in a dramatised reading style, the use of cameras (too a recurring, almost imposed, trend in late productions) accomplishes, nonetheless, freshness and appeal by creating a dichotomous reality on and off the screen. Rendering poetic imagery through a film d’auteur approach, Alex Eales’s surrealistic design is a constant burst of aural odyl – immersing us into the cinematic allure of its design, and introducing us to the imaginative charm of the filmmaking craftsmanship; delivered in harmonic unison with Anthony Doran’s subtle yet compelling lighting.
The sumptuous beat of its swinging narrative continues to throb through the cast’s mumbling renditions – bringing power and strength through the delicate frailty of their takes, soaring like gentle whisper that sneaks into our heads only to then explode. Among them, the highest praise goes to both Ben Whishaw and Emma D’Arcy, giving rather outstanding portrayals filled with electrifying allure palpitating underneath a mask of stoicism.
A one-of-a-kind ride of sonic transcendence, Bluets brings shade and character through an enthralling jaunt that, though not for everybody, still achieves to put one spell or another on each visitor. Like it or hate it, it will possibly stir something within you. And there’s only one way to call what makes that happen.
All pictures credit to Camilla Greenwell.
Bluets plays at London’s Royal Court’s Jerwood Theatre Downstairs until 29 June. Tickets are available on the following link.