A gritty insight into the world of mental illness
LITTLE BLUE FIRES, STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE by Jessica Skelton
From the hand of local writer Liam Watt Pattison and director Cheryl Govan, Little Blue Fires follows the story of Max, a teenager stumbling unwittingly into the world of mental illness and internal self-conflict.
Beset by an entourage of four personified figments of his mind – Kink, Spex, Motive and Gallahad, and a mysterious fifth who makes his appearance toward the play’s denouement – Max’s life is more M&M than Jellytot; not quite as clear-cut as you might expect.
As he labours through intrusive taxi rides and awkward appointments with the sleepdeprived Dr Albright, Max struggles to speak out about his anxiety under the constant pressure of his figurative cohort, who seem to be more trouble than they’re worth.
Spicing up the performance with seamlessly integrated jokes and witty repartee, the characters Max encounters on the way – from short-fused Mac the taxidriver to the eccentric Tia – help paint a gritty yet moving insight into the world of mental illness in teenagers.
The set was simplistic but used to great effect, comprising of four main locations in Max’s life.
But the transitions between each scene were overlooked in favour of the emotive choreography that took place in the foreground; tailored to each of the characters, it externalised Max’s inner conflict into incredibly powerful visual sequences.
The play was a perfect balance of touching drama and light humour to ease out the underlying dark themes.
The students from the OutReach 15+ Rounders class outdid themselves with this one, delivering an overall engaging and moving performance.
A perfect bag of Jellytots.