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Blue Departed - Vault Festival 19

Photo: Lidia Crisafulli

BLUE DEPARTED

Imagine, for a second, that Dante is a heroin addict and Beatrice isn’t breathing. He finds Her slumped on the kitchen floor amidst a crumbling and high-speed dystopia. One more hit then he’ll definitely tell someone. But for now She’s going to keep Herself alive, by taking Him through His nine circles of personal Hell. On a comedown.

A natural disaster at a church service; an all night wake at a casino; a grieving little Brother pointing him back to God; a family wishing He was the one in the coffin, Blue Departed is a turbulent new play from emerging playwright Serafina Cusack (Royal Court, King’s Head, Theatre 503).

Written by Serafina Cusack

Directed by Henry C. Krempels

Design Jasmine Swan

Lighting Benny Goodman

Sound Joshua Jacobs

Produced by Anima Theatre Company in collaboration with Good Wolf

Developed at the Bush Theatre and premiered at the VAULT Festival 2019

"Blue Departed drips with poetry and vomit, spewing across the stage with dark glittering menace and moments of beauty."

Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor App

★★★★★ "Stunningly acted by Mark Conway and Rebecca Layoo the relationship between two dysfunctional addicts gets increasingly painful as the play unfolds." - The Blogging Sherriff

★★★★ "Blue Departed is a remarkably intense piece of work... it details the utter despair endured by a drug addict (brilliantly captured by Mark Conway) who has just lost the woman he loves to a heroin overdose." - Spy in the Stalls 

★★★★ 'This fever dream takes the audience into a place that feels damp with the sweat and blood of each hit, each repercussion and each comedown." - Within Her Words

"Mark Conway and Rebecca Layoo give a powerful portrayal of how addiction can take root anywhere... Both revel in the linguistic contortions of the script and are suitably frantic in their energy." - There Ought to be Clowns

"The stream of consciousness Serafina Cusack gives 'Him' (Mark Conway, who is delightfully macabre and profoundly touching) is fascinating in its structure and poetry." - Broadway World

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