Blu

Synopsis —

An epic poem for the stage, blu traces the explosive after-effects of prison and hunger, desire and war. The play follows a queer Chicana/o family as they try to envision an earth and sky without police and their helicopters.

Post-Performance Discussion —

As a member of the Latino Heritage committee, Dr. Herrera arranged to bring the playwright of blu, Virginia Grise, to the University of Richmond campus as part of the program on “Art as Activism.” During her residency, she conducted two class visits, gave a talk, and participated in the post-performance discussion. In curating this series of events, she staged a conversation about how theater can be used as a forum to raise social consciousness.

Artistic Vision from the words of Dr. Patricia Herrera —

I brought my expertise as a director and practitioner of Latino theater to the role of assistant-directing blu. I collaborated with the director by serving as dramaturg and character development coach. Because I had taught blu to our students, I had a clear understanding of the limited points of access they had to the play. As a dramaturg, I worked to make blu legible and accessible to the student. After our first table reading, the cast was excited and somewhat overwhelmed by the idea of performing the story of a Mexican American family that lives in a “Barrio, U.S.A.” Most students made sense of the play by associating the characters in the play with the archetype of the Mexican gangster they had learned from film, media, and popular culture, as this is the image that is most accessible and legible to youth with no direct personal experience encountering those with the kind of background represented in the play. Building on this point of reference, I guided them to think about what was productive and limiting about this portrayal and what a playwright can do to work against the flattened images constructed by media. When the students realized that the dramatic elements they found confusing were actually resisting Latino stereotypes, the indigenous, mythical and ritualistic references and non-linear style—the jump cuts, flashbacks and fast-forwards—made more sense to them. I helped them to see how the playwright strategically shaped and manipulated dramatic forms, theatrical conventions, and character portrayals as a way of providing the characters with a rich and complex history and context.

Part of the blu discussion.