| FINBOROUGH |
| BLUE SURGE by REBECCA GILMAN |
| **** |
| director CHE WALKER décor GEORGINA LOWE costumes RACHAEL SZMUKLER lights NEILL BRINKWORTH sound EDWARD LEWIS with JAMES HILLIER curt , CLARE LLATHAM sandy, ALEXANDER GUINEY doug, KELLY BURKE heather, SAMANHA COUGHLAN beth |
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| It's an interesting piece in that it is unpredictable with an honest ending happening in a small mid-western town in the USA. Two young girls Sandy and Heather become prostitutes without calling themselves by that name and rather choose masseurs in a massage parlour which the town officials want to clean up since it's in the middle of a residential area. They prefer their work and the money to any boring conventional job which would be menial because of their lack of education. It opens with Curt going for a massage. When he asks for more than the massage Sandy ticks him off despite the fact that she massages in her bra and panties. We then see kooky Heather in her routine with Doug. Sandy allows Curt to keep on his underpants, Doug willingly goes starkers. Suddenly Doug declares he's a policeman and handcuffs Heather to himself. She laughs because he's in the nude. How can he dress himself while handcuffed? We follow these two couples. Sandy is bright and sensitive and strikes a deep chord in Curt who tries to help her. Curt has a middle-class girlfriend Beth who’s an art teacher with whom he is uncomfortable. He has had a poverty-stricken background pulling himself up by the bootstraps as he lived with his dying mother. Doug is far more confident and doesn't hesitate to carry on with Heather. Curt breaks up with Beth and gets into trouble while trying to help Sandy. He loses his job and place as a policeman. Doug and Heather commit to one another…she getting pregnant. Curt and Sandy meet up after a year... he’s exchanged the blue surge police uniform for a black security guard while taking biology courses at the community college. He remembered his interest in forestry…his studying the names of trees that Sandy enjoyed in confirming. As for Sandy….she has created a dignified brothel in her own home where she has regulars which gives her the lifestyle she wants and being her own boss without any interference. It is so colourfully performed by the entire cast creating people that are real. The direction is fluid and beautifully paced while the lights are carefully blended into the scenes. The writer has written and been awarded for such unique plays (Boy Gets Girl at the Royal Court, her play about stalking plus Spinning into Butter and Sweetest Swing in Baseball) and has a capacity to draw appealing characters that are emotionally involving. She is sensitive to the inner workings and motivations of people. It is the Finborough at its best…..smooth and polished. Import, import but not necessary for export since it’s an American play by such an acknowledged author. |
| August 7 – 27/11 |
| 1213 |