Blue: Another Black Man Gunned Down
June Carryl’s world premiere production of “Blue” at Rogue Machine Theatre puts you dead center in an LAPD interrogation room.
It’s the day after yet another police shooting of an unarmed Black man. Need we say the officer involved is white?
Sully—that officer, played by John Colella—paces nervously in the empty room. Glancing at files displayed on the table, he’s nervous. This won’t be his best day.
Julanne Chidi HIll and John Colella
Detective LaRhonda Parker—played by Julanne Chidi Hill—couldn’t be sweeter when she enters the room to “debrief” the sergeant. Butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, though you’re guessing eventually it might. Need we say she’s Black?
The pair have history. They’ve gone fishing together. She knows all three of his ex-wives. Sully was partner with her now-disgraced husband. But maybe these aren’t necessarily the ties that bind.
Carryl’s focus here is on the way we prioritize White bodies over Black and Brown ones, and how our nation’s rightward political trends are reflected in the way we allow ourselves to be policed.
“Training is not the answer,” she writes in the program notes. “Defunding the police is not the answer. We need a whole new model altogether.”
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The interrogation room is the third character, thrusting you face to face with the detective and the sergeant as they dig deeper into how a three-tour Iraq War veteran, Black or not, got gunned down after being pulled over for an expired tag.
He justifies. She probes. He jokes. She doesn’t laugh. Need we say it’s Racism 101?
Superbly acted and staged, with rapid-fire dialog that whips you through the 60-minute performance, “Blue” is not to be missed—and fortunately has been extended into June.
The Henry Murray Stage—upstairs from the Matrix in what used to be the theatre’s green room—is perfect for recreating a drab police station. It’s named for a founding member of Rogue Machine and its first literary manager.
Julanne Chidi HIll and John Colella
Among many other credits, Julanne Chidi Hill received the 2022 Outstanding Lead Performance OC Theatre Guild Award for “Yellowman.” John Colella performed “The Seafarer” and “12 Angry Men” at Laguna Playhouse. Playwright June Carryl told us she will take the role of Detective Parker when “Blue” moves to Edinburgh, Scotland.
See Ed Rampell’s “Traffic Jam: Black and Blue” on Hollywood Progressive for further insights.
“Blue” plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through May 14 and has been extended now to play Mondays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through June 5th, at the Henry Murray Stage, upstairs at the Matrix Theatre, 7657 Melrose Avenue, L.A., California, 90048. For reservations call (855)585-5185 or go here.
Photos by Jeff Lorch
The opinions expressed here are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions or beliefs of the Hollywood Progressive.
