Skip to main content

Review: Blue - La Boite Theatre & Belvoir St



Written by Jake Goodall

Taking control of a one-man show is no easy feat. The ability to captivate an audience for a full 80 minutes is a rare talent, one that cannot be taught. La Boite's latest production, Blue, features award-winning actor Thomas Weatherall at the helm, and it is clear that they could not have made a better choice.

Blue tells the story of Mark, a young man navigating life after moving out of his family home for the first time. His mother begins writing him letters to stay connected and offer gentle support. However, one letter delivers devastating news, setting Mark on a path of introspection. Alone in his apartment on a seemingly ordinary morning, Mark must grapple with his young life's trajectory, the day's demands, his studies, and the fragile nature of existence

Written by Thomas Weatherall, who also stars in the production, Blue is a profoundly personal and meaningful narrative. Weatherall exposes his soul to the audience without reservation, with the writing ebbing and flowing as gracefully as the ocean motif that recurs throughout the play. This production exemplifies the importance of artistic freedom; many theatre companies might shy away from such content due to its raw honesty and language. However, La Boite, Belvoir St, and Weatherall deserve high praise for delivering an essential show with life-saving potential.

Weatherall's performance as Mark is mesmerizing. His deep connection to the material infuses the character with an authenticity that would be challenging to replicate in another production. Holding the audience's attention for the entirety of the show, Weatherall crafts an imaginative and spectacular world for Mark to inhabit.

Director Deborah Brown's approach is straightforward yet highly effective. Her blocking ensures that Weatherall's story remains central, with impressive visual elements of water enhancing the narrative. Set and costume design by Jacob Nah and Cris Baldwin also deserve commendation. While the costumes reflect a simple contemporary style, the set is phenomenal—a curved structure with a rough paint texture and an elongated pool that is gradually revealed. This provided a fantastic canvas for Weatherall and Brown to explore, and for David Bergman to project his impeccable video design. The varied videos showcasing water and ocean scenes reinforced the 'blue' theme beautifully. Chloe Ogilvie's lighting and Wil Hughes's sound design are both simple yet effective, supporting the story seamlessly. The technical elements of the production, though understated, blend perfectly to create a cohesive and powerful experience.

Overall, Blue is a remarkable production from one of Australia's most promising performers. Tackling significant themes such as suicide, grief, and death, this show offers audience members a way to process their own emotions and experiences. It is an absolute five-star, must-see production.

Blue plays until the 1st of June, you can purchase tickets here!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Article: The Empire Young Artist showcase original production

The Empire’s youngest artists have kicked off rehearsals for their original production, Our Egg Named Larry to be performed from July 12-13. Now in its 14th year, the audition-based elite performance program IMPACT sees a Junior Ensemble cast of eight aged 13-14, dive into the funny, heartwarming and at times ridiculous story of a group of students who are assigned to a project to keep a fragile egg named Larry in one piece. An original theatre piece, Our Egg named Larry was written by The Empire Youth Arts Lead Grace Sankey and co-writer Sheldon Mcloughlin, with ensemble members to contribute to the script writing process, drawing on discoveries they make about their own characters as rehearsals continue. “This year’s Junior Ensemble has a mixture of experience levels with some members who have done this program before and some who will be going on stage for the very first time,” Miss Sankey said. “I am so grateful to be in the rehearsal room with these amazing young people, creating ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Hair - Gold Coast Little Theatre

 Written by Mark Rickell   “Back in the late 1960s, the artists of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway had been complaining that the professional theatre was dead, and even worse, that it was boring. Hair was the revolution they had been waiting for. With very little plot, a unit set, plenty of four-letter words, explicit sexual content, rituals, drugs, lyrics that didn’t rhyme, music that didn’t follow the rules, and the sound of genuine rock and roll on the Broadway stage for the first time, this musical knocked Broadway on its collective ass.” - Scott Miller, Rebels with Applause: Broadway's Ground-Breaking Musicals   Gold Coast Little Theatre has faithfully continued the tradition of knocking theatre on its ass. With themes and topics that remain just as relevant today as they did in 1967 at the show’s original release, GCLT has absolutely smashed this Broadway classic. At a time when theatres across South East Queensland seem to be falling back o...
2 comments
Read more

Review: Scenes From a Yellow Perril - The Reaction Theory & Queensland Theatre Door 3

Written by Grace Wilson The best kind of theatre is theatre that makes people question, reflect and consider how uncomfortable questions encourage people to act and change. There are not many theatre pieces out there that can make an audience consider whether to laugh or cringe, smile or grimace. However, The Reaction Theory’s ‘Scenes From a Yellow Peril’, as a part of Queensland Theatre’s Door 3 program, masterfully manipulates the uncomfortable with the comedic, the angry with the heartfelt, and asks the audience if uncomfortable questions are worth the discoveries that come with them. ‘Scenes From A Yellow Peril’ by Chinese-New Zealand writer and poet, Nathan Joe, can truly be described as poetry on stage, a turbulent experience of communication and heightened emotions. The audience is exposed to complexities and challenges of BIPOC communities across the world in a way that does not fit the traditional theatre mould. There is no way to predict what Joe writes next; each scene chops...
Post a Comment
Read more