The Blue Room

I first became interested in this play that was first performed in London on 10 September 1998, mainly because its playwrighter was David Hare ('The Hours', 'The Reader') and the director was Sam Mendes ('American Beauty', 'Revolutionary Road'). So when I had the chance to buy the book of the play in London I didn't doubt it.

The play is freely adapted from Arthur Schnitzler's 'La Ronde' and follows a series of linked stories where in each of them different characters of different backgrounds have a sexual encounter and it's always between man and a woman, there are no more characters involved in the scenes. When it was performed in 1998 only two actors did play all the characters in all the different scenes, those were Ian Glein and Nicole Kidman and it had such a commercial success that was brought to Broadway with mixed reviews.

Even though I wans't able to see this play, reading the playwright is good enough to see how challenging for the director and the actors must had been to perform it, with one same scenario that has to be changed for every scene (there are ten scenes in the play) and how the two actors had to be constantly having costume and role changes from one scene to the other. Here are the titles of the ten different scenes:

1. The Girl and the Cab Driver
2. The Cab Driver and the Au Pair
3. The Au Pair and the Student
4. The Student and the Married Woman
5. The Married Woman and the Politician
6. The Politician and the Model
7. The Model and the Playwright
8. The Playwright and the Actress
9. The Actress and the Aristocrat
10. The Aristocrat and the Girl

Here's part of the last scene that I liked the most:

10. THE ARISTOCRAT AND THE GIRL

Aristocrat: Did you sleep well?

Girl: Mmm.

Aristocrat: I was just off.

Girl: What are you staring at?

Aristocrat: On the way the light is falling. The way you woke. You're a pretty girl. You could easily find a man. How old are you?

Girl: 20 in December.

Aristocrat: And how long....

Girl: A year.

Aristocrat: A year. I must go. [...] Perhaps we'll meet again.

Girl: Just ask for Irene.

Aristocrat: Irene. Fair enough. (I've spent the whole night with her and all I've done is kiss her eyes. That's something.) Irene, does this happens a lot?

Girl: What?

Aristocrat: That men leave you. That they just leave you?

Girl: Sure. Everyday.

Aristocrat: No, I mean without... without...

Girl: No. Never!

Aristocrat: It doesn't mean I don't like you.

Girl: I know that. You liked me well enough last night.

Aristocrat: I like you now.

Girl: Yes. But liked me better last night. Don't tell me you've forgotten.

Aristocrat: Yes. No.

Girl: God, you must have been drunk, baby.

Aristocrat: Yes. (Well... it would have been romantic if I'd just kissed her eyes. That would have been romantic. But there we are. It wasn't to be. On we go.) Goodnight.

Girl: Good morning.

Sources: enotes & imdb

Bibliography: David Hare The Blue Room (1998). Ed. Faber and Faber Limited. isbn 0571197884