REVIEW: ‘Blindness’ is a powerful theatrical show for the COVID generation
Image courtesy of Blindness / Provided by BBB with permission.
Blindness, the new play from the Donmar Warehouse, has transferred to off-Broadway’s Daryl Roth Theatre in Union Square. The production features a 70-minute narrative that would have been the stuff of science fiction 15 months ago, but today, after more than a year of a global pandemic, the story feels frighteningly possible and familiar.
But first, a note on how audience members are experiencing Blindness in New York City. Until recently, theaters have been shut down, and locals and tourists have been masked, quarantined and receiving COVID-19 tests on a regular basis. The horrible realities of the virus are still present in the Big Apple and around the world, but restrictions are being lifted, especially for vaccinated people.
Blindness opened before the lifting of some of these restrictions, but the continued precautions for audience members feels entirely appropriate. Patrons are asked not to congregate in large numbers when queuing up for the show, and everyone is sat in socially distanced pods of chairs. Masks are required for this indoor theatrical setting.
How this play has been able to host performances is because there is no traditional cast. The lights dim, and audience members hear the story thanks to a Juliet Stevenson voiceover that is piped into headphones they are required to wear. The only real staging comes from artfully displayed lights that flicker, brighten and dim throughout the performance.
The sound design by Ben and Max Ringham is revelatory, and the same can be said of Jessica Hung Han Yun’s lighting design. Stevenson’s voice feels like it’s right next to each audience member. She whispers into one’s ear, screams at the horror around her and gives visitors a chance to visualize the epidemic she is enduring. The story of that epidemic, based on a novel by José Saramago, deals with a global problem: an infectious virus that is circulating and causing people to go blind. In order to contain the outbreak, a quarantine is called for by the government, but society starts to deconstruct under the pressures of the contagion.
These words — virus, quarantine, etc. — are tough to sit through because, of course, audience members have been experiencing these words for so long. New York City was once an epicenter in the world’s fight against COVID-19, so to have a piece of theater address a similar scenario makes for a stress-filled evening of theater. But it’s also a necessary reflection on what has happened over the past 15 months. Blindness is able to artfully and grippingly contextualize the COVID-19 pandemic, showcasing scenes and scenarios that did in fact play out, and others that were fretted about but never materialized. Yes, the specifics are different, but the underlying themes are scarily similar.
Simon Stephens adapted Saramago’s novel, and his script is economical and effective, jumping from the macro of the epidemic to the micro of a person trying to survive under hellish circumstances. Stevenson, one of the best performers from the United Kingdom, is pitch-perfect as the narrator, bringing the audience through her travails and triumphs.
Director Walter Meier Johann and his creative team need to be commended for their risk-taking and daring to present this staged reading in such a unique and important setting.
It should be noted that experiencing Blindness — and it truly is an experience — is not an easy journey to take. Besides the familiar and distressing content, there’s also the haunting soundscape of a society breaking apart. When the lights go out, essentially rendering everyone in the theater “blind” like the narrator, the screams and shouts in the headphones can be disorienting, eerie and uncomfortable. On more than one occasion, this reviewer looked over his shoulders to ensure there wasn’t someone nearby. When the lights flashed on, in order to signal a scene change, the lingering images of the theater can play like ghosts on one’s aching retinas. This is a draining, difficult performance that audience members need to endure, much like the narrator does in the story — and much like everyone has during the past year.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Blindness, adapted by Simon Stephens from José Saramago’s novel, is now playing the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York City. The Donmar Warehouse production is directed by Walter Meier Johann and stars the voice talents of Juliet Stevenson. Sound designers: Ben and Max Ringham. Lighting designer: Jessica Hung Han Yan. Designer: Lizzie Clachan. Running time: 70 minutes. Click here for more information and tickets.
