Russell Tovey and Travis Alabanza join live performances of Derek Jarman’s Blue
“If I lose half my sight, will my vision be halved?”
Russell Tovey and Travis Alabanza are set to take part in live performances of Derek Jarman’s seminal film, Blue.
Blue Now will celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary and will be directed by Neil Bartlett. It will be performed live in Brighton, Margate, Manchester, and London across May.
Blue was completed by Jarman in May 1993, just months before he died. For 74 minutes, a celestial blue screen plays accompanied by spoken extracts of Jarman’s diary.
The extracts paint a picture of Jarman’s increasing blindness as he battled HIV and more of his life is stripped away.
Created in the darkest days of the Aids epidemic Blue captures the rage and loss felt at the time. At the same time, it offers inspiring messages of compassion and love.
“I cannot wait for it to happen”
Joining Tovey and Alabanza are Jay Bernard and the acclaimed spoken word performer Joelle Taylor.
Commenting on the announcement actor Russell Tovey said: “Derek Jarman is my hero, and I feel the power of his work more so than ever today. Blue Now will be a gift from Derek, to us, and I cannot wait for it to happen.”
Director Neil Bartlett added: “I was lucky enough to know Derek Jarman. He was – and is – an inspiration, not just to me but to people around the world. I am proud to be bringing his words alive again by collaborating with this extraordinary team of artists.”
Additionally, the cast will be accompanied by Blue‘s original composer, Simon Fisher Turner, who will bring a new live score.
The four live performances will take place at Brighton’s Theatre Royal (1 May), Turner Contemporary in Margate (13 May), HOME in Manchester (21 May), and Tate Modern in London (27 May).
Commissioned by WeTransfer, the live performances will also be joined by a digital version available of WePresent.