The Blue Dragon

"BREATHTAKINGLY INVENTIVE! Lepage...combines theatrical sleight of hand with striking imagery that suggests an animated painting or a live film. Genius!" - Martin Morrow, The Globe & Mail

There is no arguing that the staging of The Blue Dragon at the Royal Alex is clever. Perhaps "clever" isn't quite a big enough word. The production is two hours long with no intermission so if you go, you'd best hit the bathroom first. Presented in French, English and Mandarin and sur-titled in English, it is at times, a challenge to pay close attention to the actors and read the sur-titles simultaneously, so as not to miss any of the dialogue. Merv dozed through sections of the first hour and missed some significant portions of the play. I was more successful in paying attention even when the play felt slow but I must admit, at times I found it tedious to read my way through. Of the three languages that constitute the dialogue, English is the language spoken least. And the translation was at times odd. I understand enough French to know we weren't getting a very fulsome translation of the French dialogue.

The play was well acted and visually interesting but I don't know what to make of it. We both walked out shaking our heads. It was interesting and clever but also slow and boring. The story is strange - very, very strange. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it either. At least there was enough substance in the story to give me something to ponder. I've seen worse.