Blue Surge @Theatre_20 (theatre review)

While fully admitting that I was coming into Blue Surge expecting it to be a fantastic work (I have seen the work of Sabrina Evertt and her team at Twenty Something Productions before, with Prodigals – read my review here), I always try to enter a new play devoid of any preconceptions. I was definitely not disappointed. Blue Surge explores really tough terrain with mastery, dexterity and depth.

The actors who portray the main characters manage to intensely immerse themselves in their work, so much so that they made me want to slap them (particularly Leroux as Curt and McGeough as the sweet Sandy). I’m not surprised that Evertt and her cast and crew achieve such an intense and in-depth exploration of terrain that is often uncharted. This is no Pretty Woman, don’t get your hopes high. This is intense drama and entangled lives that never seem to fully emerge from their inner misery.

From the official press release:

Blue Surge tells the story of Curt (Jeremy Leroux), a small-town cop, and Sandy (Megan McGeough), the 18-year old prostitute he meets in a raid on a massage parlour. Curt finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Sandy and begins a relationship with her that puts everything he’s worked for – his career, his friendships, and his engagement to his fiancée – at risk. But Curt sees a future with Sandy, an escape from his difficult past. As the two of them chase their dreams, they must learn a skill that is foreign to them both: they must learn to hope. Rounding out the cast is Curt’s best friend Doug (Chris Rosamond) and fiancée Beth (Claire Lindsay) as well as Sandy’s friend and roommate Heather (Tara Pratt).

I adore Tara Pratt, that’s public knowledge. Her role in Prodigals really captured my heart and here she rounds up a supporting role that really adds to Sandy’s storyline (McGeough). Leroux and I had a brief chat after the opening night performance and I mentioned how good his acting was, because he really wanted to make me slap him (every mistake Curt made seemed to add to the already long list of failures his life was). Lindsay was excellent as Curt’s fiancée (with an extreme tolerance for Curt’s shortcomings, in my opinion).

Thanks to Theatre TwentySomething for a great experience, to my good friend Erin McConnell for joining me on opening night as my Plus One, and to Sabrina for offering a pair of tickets to giveaway to one lucky reader of mine. It was a really good performance and the cast deserves a big round of kudos.

Blue Surge runs until September 5 at Studio 16 (a relatively small theatre but very nice, in the francophone building). Check their website for information on tickets.

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