Ever had that experience where you are aware that something is rather famous, has been around quite a long time, but you don’t actually know much about it, simply because you’ve never really crossed paths?That was the case for me with the Blue Man Group, a show that has been simultaneously playing in multiple countries seemingly in perpetuity. Some productions have become absolute local fixtures, such as the Berlin iteration causing its former IMAX venue to be officially renamed the Bluemax Theatre, and the New York off-Broadway version having now run for over two decades and still going strong. That won’t be the case here, as open-ended theatrical engagements never seem to take root Downunder, but for a limited time at least, the Lryic Theatre has become the domain of three mute blue bald chaps who have cultivated quite the following.
But what is Blue Man Group? If you’ve only seen references to them on Arrested Development, caught a brief talk-show performance, or remember their TV ads for Intel processors around the turn of the millennium, you might think they’re some kind of gimmick pop band in makeup, or maybe anonymous mixed-media artists, perhaps even a performance art troupe. Well, they’re no Gilbert and George, but you could say that their act involves elements from all of the above. “Performance Art” sounds a little incongruously highbrow for a show pitched at a mass audience, but it’s somewhat apt. It is a narrativeless exploration of colour, sound and movement, in which the performers splash pigment onto blank canvasses with varying levels of abstraction whilst playing music mostly on “improvised” instruments made from PVC plumbing and other weird contraptions. They are backed by an electro-rock band perched in scaffolding above the stage, wearing glowing suits that make them look like escapees from TRON.
There is no story as such, or even really characters, as the three titular Blue Men are intentionally cast to look almost indistinguishable under their ear-covering bald-caps and thick makeup of intense, almost Yves Klein blue, all behaving identically as mute, nearly expressionless creatures. The Blue Men appear nonhuman, perpetually staring with an emotive range that rarely strays beyond the gap between quizzical and astonished, reacting to their surroundings with noncomprehension and unexpected inventiveness. They are endearing without ever quite becoming lovable, that sense of slightly skittish alienness always present, approachable but wary and never breaking character for an instant, even when mobbed in the foyer for post-show photo ops.
The performance itself is a grab bag of assorted and largely unrelated skits that involve varying levels of audience participation, with the trio invading the stalls several times, but always containing some element of intense colour and sound, with a liberal sprinkling of faintly scatological sight gags and sleight of hand. There is also a heavy multimedia component to the show, with abundant digital projections and large screens descending from the fly-tower to act as giant smartphones. One can observe loose themes running through the show that prod at the interconnectedness and unreality of the technology infusing our current lives, in this age of texting and omnipresent phone apps. This is perhaps the most obvious indication that Blue Man Group seeks to keep updating their shows’ content, as such reference points would not have existed when the original group was founded 26 years ago.
Yet conceptual freshness is by no means the crux of this show, in fact, their token localised references to Men at Work and Johnny Farnham would have gone over many young people’s heads. It is broad appeal that they are going for here. A few fleetingly risqué references aside, this is very much an all-ages show designed to reach the widest possible audience with their spectacular sounds, visions and predominantly physical comedy. Indeed, a large part of the phenomenon of this group’s longevity must surely be that they are a largely non-verbal act that can be enjoyed by young and old, tourists and locals, and across language barriers for whom the occasional text or voiceover elements would not significantly detract from the fun.
For some, Blue Man Group may seem a little too kiddie, too populist, or lacking much in the way of social critique or any deeper artistic message. Yet this clearly isn’t their mission statement. As the party atmosphere of the delightfully interactive penultimate sequence (which I won’t spoil for anyone) demonstrates, the show is an inclusive feast for the ears, eyes and funnybone, a tasty three-scoop ice cream cone of a show, and sometimes that’s exactly what you want.
BLUE MAN GROUP
Venue: Sydney Lyric
Dates: from 10 August, 2013
Times: Tuesday @ 7pm, Wednesday - Friday @ 8pm, Saturday @ 4pm and 8pm, Sunday @ 3pm and 7pm
Bookings: Ticketmaster.com.au | 1300 795 267
