Photo: Lidia Crisafulli

BLUE DEPARTED

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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.

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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).

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Written by Serafina Cusack

Directed by Henry C. Krempels

Design Jasmine Swan

Lighting Benny Goodman

Sound Joshua Jacobs

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Produced by Anima Theatre Company in collaboration with Good Wolf

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

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

Lyn Gardner, Stagedoor App

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

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★★★★ "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 

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★★★★ '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

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"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

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"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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