The Blue Room

Synopsis

Based on Arthur Schnitzler's play Reigen (filmed as La Ronde) which was first performed (to great scandal) in 1912. A bitter and comic assessment of love depicted through sexual liaisons in Vienna that cross social divides: prostitute/soldier, soldier/maid, maid/student etc. A two-hander in which each plays 5 parts. Premiered in 1998 at the Donmar Warehouse with Nicole Kidman. Please note that the production contains some nudity and strong language. Recommended for adults only.

Our Review:

18 October 2001

Here's one you won't want to take your mother to. David Hare's The Blue Room, currently at York Theatre Royal, should come with a sex and nudity warning. Not that it isn't good - far from it. It's just a little...intimate.

The scene: two park benches, a litterbin and a prostitute nervously smoking on a cheap cigarette. The action: a cab driver walks by, and then back again, and then back another time, finally posing the question: "What are you doin' 'ere?" The prostitute replies, and before you've got comfy in your seat, they're having sex - and it's decidedly not making love - in the middle of the stage.

So starts a play that focuses on the basic human need for companionship - forbidden or otherwise - and how a variety of people go about acquiring it. From politician's wife to playwright, from student to model: little by little, an intriguing picture of class divides and physical desire becomes clear. No matter how rich, how talented or how ordinary,...

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