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Mar 2024
Review: Emma Rice’s Blue Beard at York Theatre Royal is must-see
Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town. You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com.
When I read the synopsis for Blue Beard, I was intrigued but, truthfully, none the wiser as to what to expect. I knew that, with celebrated, visionary theatre-maker Emma Rice at the helm, it would be something a little unconventional.
Rice’s reimagining is indeed off-the-wall; eccentric, creative, chaotic and hypnotic, Blue Beard is unlike anything I have ever seen.
Based on a 17th-century French fairy tale, we meet the eponymous villain: serial husband Blue Beard (Tristan Sturrock), a smarmy, suited magician, who, rather fittingly for the bloodshed to come, woos his future bride, Lucky (Robyn Sinclair), by sawing her in half on stage.
Once married, the pair run off to live in Blue Beard’s mansion with rooms aplenty, all of which Lucky is free to roam, apart from one: a secret forbidden chamber. When he leaves home on business, Lucky is given strict instructions by Blue Beard not to enter, but (of course) curiosity gets the better of her. Unlocking the secret door, she witnesses a scene of horror: the lifeless, bloodied bodies of her new spouse's many former wives. What will she do next?
Left to right, Stephanie Hockley, Robyn Sinclair, Patrycja Kujawska. Credit: Steve Tanner
This review comes with a warning: the play is bonkers. But it’s bonkers done to perfection. Trust me – ride the wave and you’ll reap the rewards. The production is rich and overflowing with invention and imagination.
The stage becomes a hallucinatory, fantastical, out-of-time universe with dangling glitter balls, Tarantino-style slo-mo fight scenes, magic tricks, acrobatics and cabaret. Choreography is slick. Set and costume become integral, essential story-telling tools, as does Stu Barker’s sublime score.
A multi-talented cast of actor-musicians gives its very all, including narration by a straight-talking, foul-mouthed Mother Superior figure (Katy Owen) which only heightens the play’s eccentricity. Everything has a place and a purpose, including a more subdued, modern-day subplot intertwined with the main narrative.
Now for the best bit, and why, even if you begin soul-searching in the first 15 minutes or so of the play, wondering what on earth you are watching, you’ll be glad you stayed the course.
The mood shifts. The flashy flamboyance and hectic hedonism of the first act recedes. Having retreated into fantasy, we crash-land in the stark present, and it is at this point that the production reveals its true purpose and power.
Mirabell Gremaud and Tristan Sturrock. Credit: Steve Tanner
I don’t want to give too much away; the play lives on its denouement. The finale, a quietly powerful and desperately urgent commentary on violence against women, is so expertly juxtaposed with the mayhem that came before that the effect is spine-tingling. It’s a real gut-punch.
The production looks back on the “grief of centuries” for women, and how it continues today. The raw, heartfelt exclamation of one female character at the end says it all: “I should be able to walk home alone”.
Blue Beard is at York Theatre Royal until Saturday 9 March.
Read more:
- Review: Oh What a Lovely War brings songs and satire to Harrogate Theatre
- Review: The Woman in Black haunts York’s Grand Opera House
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