Thomas Weatherall’s Blue is an exquisite yet devastatingly beautiful unpacking of the complexities around mental health, grief, love, and loss, told with such frank and gentle honesty.
Mark and his mother exchange letters, it’s how they communicate – they are both writers, sharing their ups and downs, from the very simple to the mundane, but this is how they care and love.
Mark’s life has been littered with tragedy in one so young, and yet, he accepts the ebb and flow of each crashing wave with resilience and wisdom well beyond his years. Through it all, his mother’s letters have been a constant, but soon, even they must come to an end.
Thomas Weatherall masterfully steps into dual roles of writer and performer of this extraordinary work – effortlessly guiding the audience through the life of one who has lived a life so full.
Weatherall is the ultimate storyteller – cheeky, caring, honest and vulnerable, he gives everything he has and leaves no stone unturned in telling this story.
Nothing is cliche or contrived, but rather the world of Mark is built on simplistic structure and shockingly matter of fact prose.
Deborah Brown’s direction works in perfect parallel to Weatherall’s writing and performance – know exactly when to propel the script forward and drive the pace, and when to gently lead the story to its most meditative musings.
Care and detail are littered throughout the work, and a knowing of how best to frame and form this story for an audience.
The spellbinding set, lighting and video art by Cris Baldwin and Jacob Nash, Chloe Ogilvie and David Bergman respectively allow Weatherall’s performance to flourish and thrive.
A seemingly simple staging soon transforms into a multifaceted world of waves and water, light and shade, the deep desperation of love and the numbing nature of despair – the designs aid in keeping the work on track and the audience engaged when there is an ever so slightest dip in pace or audience attention wains.
Blue marks the beginning of what can only be an exciting and fruitful creative career for Thomas Weatherall, a writer and performer with such vulnerable, honest and insightful talent, that it will be a joy and honour to see just what he does next.
BLUE
Upstairs Theatre – Belvoir St Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
Performance: Sunday 22 January 2023
Season continues to 29 January 2023
Information and Bookings: www.belvoir.com.au
Image: Thomas Weatherall – photo by Joseph Mayers
Review: Gavin Roach