The Blue Room

“When you sleep with someone, you are sleeping with everyone else that person ever slept with.” This statement, used in sexual health books and classes, is a fitting way of describing David Hare’s play The Blue Room.

The play shows ten people in pre-and post-coital discussions. Actual sex scenes are pre-empted by blackouts, which are scored by music instead of sex noises. Most of the characters are types rather than human beings, given titles such as Taxi Driver, Actress, Aristocrat and Model, instead of names. Seldom do the characters give any hint of a personality beyond their character archetypes; plotlines are thin at best.

The play itself comes with a well-documented history. Based on an early 20th century play called ‘La Ronde’ (translating as ‘round dance’), the original piece wasn’t initially meant for the public. In 1921, after nearly 20 years of private performances, it received its official opening but was quickly closed by police amid charges of obscenity.

In the late 1990s, David Hare adapted the play, keeping the motif of one character having sex with another until the final character meets the first, and replacing the original characters with similar, modern roles. The premiere of Hare’s piece became famous for having Nicole Kidman naked onstage and being called ‘theatrical Viagra’ by a critic.

In retrospect, it isn’t a great play. It is nothing more than a hodgepodge of scenes, some better than others, and lines that seemed clever when delivered are mostly forgotten by the time the next scene has begun.

What the play does offer, however, is the opportunity for two actors to shine. And luckily for this production, both of its players, Karen Fraser and Neil McCormack, give solid and worthy performances. What both actors are able to accomplish is no small feat. Their comfort with their characters and, more importantly, each other, allows them to give believable and effective performances in an intimate setting for two hours.

Director Liane Claire Dickie does a good job keeping the action clear. It would have been easy to create a production aimed at mere titillation. Instead, Dickie has attempted to find truth and heart in each scene. Even the nudity is handled tastefully; treated with respect and truth, rather than gratuitously.

If I have a few slight complaints about this production, they centre on its design. The set is simple: four platforms that are moved and shaped by the two actors. While each scene’s set functioned well, scene shifts were always lengthy, sometimes feeling as long as the scenes themselves. And the music, many times incorporating clever nods to the action, sometimes felt a bit too knowing.

Still, this production of The Blue Room is well performed and manages to be tasteful and entertaining when it could easily have been brash and tarty.