Blue Beard directed by Emma Rice for Wise Children - Tour

Could a mod please change the title to Wise Children, not Wild Children? Sorry.

If you haven't seen it yet, her Shakespeare's Globe production of A Midsummer Night's Dream is still available in iPlayer.

 www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001npy4

bac.org.uk/whats-on/blue-beard/?utm_source=BAC&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=14164762_Wise%20Children%20announcement%20-%20General&utm_content=Blue%20Beard&dm_i=1FDE%2C8FLLM%2C7ECGKL%2CYTF2J%2C1

On at the Batterssa Arts Centre next year

Yup it's been like that for a while

I’m there for this Saturday’s matinee so I’ll post my thoughts on it. 

A few thoughts from yesterday afternoons visit to Manc HOME to watch this. With a runtime of around 2hrs with a 20 minute interval this latest offering from Emma Rice was very much a mixed bag for me. From the foreword in the play text available to buy from the box office (£10) as a QR code was available for a free digital programme (you have to sign up to the wise children site to access it), Emma noted that she didn't like the original Blue Beard tale as it glamourises the serial killer of women in the story rather than putting the women's stories front and center. In her version, she wanted to correct this and shine a light on their stories. 

In this version we meet the sisterhood of the fearful, f**ked and furious (a sisterhood that has very much Tarantino vibes than the Call the Midwife nuns) who is led by Katy Owen's brilliant feisty and witty Mother Superior who also acts as a narrator to the piece and helping to link the interweaving stories that are told through asides and some pier-side jokes to the audience.

In the contemporary story we meet an endearing young man played by Adam Mirsky who is looking for his lost sister played by Mirabelle Gremaud whilst concurrently we get the Blue Beard story. Tristan Sturrock as the villain of the play plays Blue Beard with the right balance of charm, slime and evil to become a menacing individual. 

The stories are told through some catchy songs from Stu Barker as well as some terrific acting and vocals from the cast and with Emma's usual theatrical flair (with some magic tricks chucked in for good measure) there is plenty to keep you entertained. This production is part musical, part gig and part play. With all the music played live by some of the cast members there is a nice electric mix of songs from jazz, rock and some acoustic numbers they certainly added an extra layer to proceedings. 

With a sparse set from designer Vicki Mortimer mainly consisting of 3 different sized wardrobes, the stage strangely didn't seem that empty thanks to the onstage presence of musical instruments.

Act 1 whilst certainly a fun one with plenty of humour there is a dark undercurrent of horror and evil that bubbles quietly that is comes to the fore in a darker Act 2 with a chilling and sobering end. The use of pre-recorded video projected onto a screen at the end amplifies this. The issue I had was that the production seemed disjointed by the end of Act 1 I couldn't see how the contemporary story and the Blue Beard tale would come together and made for a bit of a head scratcher interval but it is in the last 10 minutes that really give this production some real emotional punch as the 2 stories come together to bring home the powerful message that Emma is trying to get across and certainly hits home after the case of Sarah Everard. 

Booking is open for Battersea Arts Centre

Dear goodness its got the Rice faults - LET THE WORDS BREATHE, yet again its a production smothered in movement and action and bloody ribbons!!!

It comes across as a Director who doesn't believe in the actual play so 19 things must be happening on stage at the same time to divert your attention. t was OK but its smothered in business that for me detracts from the actual story. The last Emma Rice production I'd seen was A Matter of Life and Death (which starred a couple of cast members here) and that too suffered from people with ribbons and acrobatics and nonsense. 15 years later and this was more of the same.

And you are right about the ending - the last 10 minutes are a massive change of tone and it doesn't pull it off satisfactorily. The boy/sister plot is very peripheral so to pivot to them as the finale and the way the story goes are clearly a comment on modern society BUT we've just spent the last 110 minutes watching something that has made exactly the same point but in a far better way.

I did ponder on the way home if it would work better without the video and instead having the climax be done on the stage with the actor involved and then adding in the actor playing Blue Beard as the other person in the video (trying not to spoil).

I also had to read up on the legend of Blue Beard to find out what actually happened with the key and why she just didn't clean it and hang it back on the glitter ball as the reason for it still being covered on blood either wasn't clearly explained or it passed me by.

.....and I thought Katy Owen was absolutely terrible - worst performance I've seen in decades, though I suspect its been smothered in Rice.

....and with my bad back there is no way I'd be going in the box for the sawing thew women in half trick.

I'd say a 5 out of 10 but with potential to be better if Emma Rice wasn't using her usual bag of tricks.

Also disappointed we didn't get to see any of his pirate career 

So much all over the place. I like a lot of the cast but just so much going on. The change of pace at the end didn't work for me, I can see how it might impact (as it did for others) but I just found it out of place with the production. Tie it all back in together and it might have worked better.