To a casual observer, a new musical may not be something that ever crosses your radar, unless of course that musical then blows up into a phenomenon that gets everyone, even the people not so crazy about the theatre, talking.
I will be honest, seeing a new musical wasn't really a thing for me until a few years ago, and by new musical I don't mean seeing a musical I had never seen before, but a musical that was not even on the public sphere of knowledge, or one that had been newly created for a specific stage. I was a bit of a crowd follower and, to some degree, I still am, which is why I felt had to come out of my comfort a little bit and try some new shows.
"Indigo" is a play currently on at The Curve Theatre, Leicester. It is a new musical that tells the story of a couple, Rick and Beverley, who bring Elaine, Beverley's mother, home to live with them as she is in the throes of early Alzheimer's. You would think that would be a emotional topic all on its own, however the situation becomes even more stressful when Beverley's daughter, Emma, moves back home.
Why is that stressful, one might ask? Well, Emma is autistic, and non-verbal, but also a specific type of autism called synaesthesia, which is a perceptual phenomenon where stimulation of one sense triggers experiences in another sense. In this case, what Emma hears translates into colours, and this was portrayed very sensitively and with great attention to detail on this production.
Autism has rarely been played well in the media, as perhaps better experts than I can attest, but this piece of theatre was both written and played beautifully well. Every song crafted for Emma's character, portrayed so fantastically by Katie Cailean, was almost specifically designed to punch you in the heart. There were themes across the musical that I think everyone can relate to, such as loss, family, and identity, whilst at the same time devoting itself in detail to the issues that maybe not everyone can relate to, to get the audience to understand and empathise and therefore will follow the journey that is being portrayed.
Katie played Emma with such care and attention, that even when she was singing, and coming away from the non-verbal aspect of her character, there were still little actions that had been introduced with her character that made up who she was that she kept in place the whole time, so that even as she was letting you into Emma's mind, you never forgot how the outside world saw her, and what her biggest struggles were, and what was really important here was how they shied away from playing on stereotypical tropes, such as the idea that people with Autism are difficult to understand and relate to, and therefore are not worth getting to know. Emma was likable and funny and cheeky as well at times, and therefore when she did have the odd meltdown you felt compelled to protect her, not shun her. This to me is the main difference in if any sort of representation is good or bad.
Beverley and Rick, played respectively by Rebecca Trehearn and Nuno Queimado, were so relatable, and this is a credit to Rebecca and Nuno, because you genuinely felt like you were looking at a married couple and seeing snap shots in their life, and even though they both had low and high moments throughout the show, that's what sealed them as very relatable individuals. Rebecca stole the show in so many moments with her powerful voice, but then Nuno would match that energy by not only creating a warm and safe energy, but also delivered some comedic moments that helped deliver that family dynamic on stage.
Lisa Maxwell played Elaine, Beverley's mother, and whilst the majority of the world may know her from The Bill, for me I will always remember her in this role. She had a beautiful and sweet singing voice too but to me her biggest strength was in her facial expressions, how she could switch from being in the moment, to being somewhere else, in a heartbreakingly familiar scenario to anybody with loved ones who have or have had any form of Alzheimer's. In one scene, without giving away spoilers, there was a defining moment where a look of love and recognition went away in a single flicker, and was replaced by fear, and anger, and it took my absolute breath away because I found myself hurting for the characters in that moment.
The supporting characters of Alicia and Tyler, played by Tania Mathurin and Hugo Rolland, were also enjoyable to watch and helped provide even more dimensions to an already well rounded show. Tyler's enthusiasm for comics, helped create some lovely moments with him and Emma, and Alicia's non-judgmental approach with Beverley, as a social worker, was a beautiful reminder that when we are not trying to hold everyone to an impossibly high standard, even if we are not perfect ourselves, the thing we do best as humans is being supportive, which can only lift us higher when we need it the most.
Tania and Hugo were both astonishing performers, with equally strong and powerful voices, and they elevated the material given to them and made them feel like real characters you would love to know and be friends with. I do think that's an underrated characteristic of a musical; it's nice to have characters to jeer at and demonise, but don't underestimate the power in rooting for someone and having them succeed, which led to two of the most beautiful scenes in the musical, one was between Rick and Emma, the other between Beverley and Emma, and I will say no more for fear of giving spoilers.
Overall, this was a show that spellbound me in ways I wish I could describe better. What's amazing is it's a one act show, so there's no time to digest or absorb everything: you are in the moment with this family until the end. I was in tears for a good third of it, and I think that speaks not only to the cast, but to the crew and director, and the music and lyrics.
The staging as well was amazing, particularly as it was in a studio room. It would not have felt out of place on a bigger stage, even if you may have lost the sense of being up and close and personal with the cast. The concept of colour plays a big theme, as you would expect, and even when you were not being hit by colour and sound and light, the darker, more subtly lit scenes, made perfect sense given what was happening, and what I like as well is that the title of the musical doesn't necessarily make sense until the very end scene, and then it hits you like a tidal wave of emotion.
A fantastic new show that I will be seeing again. It plays until the 19 July and tickets can be purchased here https://www.curveonline.co.uk/whats-on/shows/indigo/ If you like moving shows with a beautiful soundtrack and fantastic staging, this is 100 percent the show for you.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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