Review: Bluets (Royal Court)

Review by Daz Gale

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The new Artistic Director for the Royal Court, David Byrne, has programmed an ambitious and diverse selection of shows for his first season - the first major show in that season is an intriguing premise as Bluets focuses on someone who has fallen in love with a particular colour. Sound interesting? Read on to find out if I too fell in love with this or if it left me feeling, well, blue.

Adapted from Maggie Nelsons electrifying book, Bluets uses the characters obsession with the colour blue to draw paralells with all that the colour represents and is connected to in the wider world, most notably depression. As references to a collection of blue objects and their ongoing attempts to seek out the colour where possible, the darker aspects of blue start to seep in, most notably its connotations with depression as heartbreak becomes more prominent in the story.

Not the easiest or most conventional of books to adapt, Margaret Perry retains the essence of the story while attempting to find ways to make it work on stage. This is brought to life through Katie Mitchell's direction, using her live cinema technique which blends theatre and film into its own art form.

With a cast of three each performing with a camera filming them against an ever-changing backdrop and a table constantly transforming to new settings and props (special mention to the hard working stage crew for their relentless need to change this), the precision and attention to detail can't be faulted, making Mitchells direction admirable and awe-inspiring throughout.

While the cameras ability to have a character move from the street to a hospital to their home with an effect can be humorous at times and effective at others, it does become a bit of a one trick pony, running the risk of reducing the show to a gimmick - something it deserves more of. With the cast lit poorly, there seems to have been not enough consideration to the live audience and more for the screen instead. While I'm personally a lover of filmed elements in theatre, these need to be in addition to the live elements on stage and not instead of. This was somewhat lost, rendering the point of seeing live actors on stage a bit unnecessary.

I also found the whole thing rather cold at times, struggling to connect at times. While this is a bold and different production in itself, it speaks of themes which I wanted to resonate with and really should have. Its inability to connect with me on a personal level dampened my enjoyment significantly.

Ben Whishaw makes his first of two London stage appearances this year, joined by Emma D'Arcy and Kayla Meikle. It is impossible to separate any of their performances as they all play the same character, taking turns saying a few words at a time. Their ability to do this with ease in what is clearly a very technical and tricky piece of writing to learn is incredibly impressive, as is their stunning talents between them. I would be lying if I said I didn't find it quite jarring though, having them constantly go from one to another rather than giving them fully formed pieces of narrative individually. While I'm sure some will love this stylistically, this was another reason that stopped me connecting to the piece.

Bluets is unlike anything I have ever seen before. I admired what they were going for and it did showcase moments of brilliance, with Katie Mitchells direction particular impressing. However, the notion it became a bit too gimmicky detracted from the substance of the show, meaning it felt more like a reading at times, with the thought cropping up that it felt a bit like a school project. That isn't something to be used as an insult, but there was something about Bluets that failed to wow me. An interesting and occasionally enjoyable piece, Bluets flaws made me feel this hadn't quite reached its full potential as yet.

Bluets plays at Royal Court until 29th June. Tickets from www.royalcourttheatre.com

Photos by Camilla Greenwood