Gripping drama doesn’t sugarcoat serious issues of young anxiety
LITTLE BLUE FIRES, STEPHEN JOSEPH THEATRE, SCARBOROUGH by Sam Robertson
Little Blue Fires, by Liam Watt Pattison, is a truly breathtaking performance that really explores and unearths the real issue of anxiety in young people.
While discovering the suffering journey of the life of teenager Max and his psyche of imaginary friends, the performance illustrates the use of comedy and heartache to create a gripping narrative, which in no way sugar coats the strong emotive sensation that was sent airborne throughout the theatre from this touching tale.
This emotionally driven story showed what anxiety is like from the perspective of Max who is diagnosed with a severe case of social anxiety, which slowly leads him down a dim path of stress, fear and anger that he can’t run away from. Being reluctant to tell his family of his problem caused his anxiety to get worse as he had no help and was left alone with his figmental friends.
It wasn’t until Max’s grandad had realised his problems and comforted him before passing away that Max felt he could really open up to his family about it.
Upon entry into the theatre my attention was instantly grabbed by how simple the set on stage was however I was taken by surprise when discovering the taxi in the centre stage could fold over into a table. The set had been creatively designed so after each scene the actors performed a sequence in which not only set the tone for the next scene, but converted the set too. These repetitive sequences also created the sense of Max’s anxiety chasing him into the following scenes.
What really brought the performance to life though was the passionate and realistic acting, each actor played their roles superbly and have undeniable talent.
I felt as though I could really relate to the characters being portrayed which made it an amazing experience.