A Love Letter to the Nightingale is a bold production from video artist Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson. As we were eagerly waiting at the bar at The Blue Room Theatre for the show to commence, we were met with a tray of Persian goodies to snack on. It’s always a nice touch when your experience of a show commences before you walk into the theatre itself.
Another aspect I love about shows at The Blue Room is the artists’ freedom to arrange the seating inside the theatre. In this instance, the room was set up with a traverse stage.
a love letter to the nightingale. Photography by Daniel J Grant.
Suspended from the ceiling was a round screen that switched between beautiful images of a man and a woman dancing, and excerpts of a poem repeatedly displayed as the story progressed. The imagery on screen was stunning and blended well with the styling of the set, props and costuming.
As rage and reason argued with each other, pacing along the lengths of the room in front of us, I was impressed to see such impassioned performances from the actors. The carnal expression of rage and the unwavering presence of reason painted a clear juxtaposition. There was one particularly impressive fight scene that was choreographed and executed very well, given the positioning of the audience on either side of the performers.
a love letter to the nightingale. Photography by Daniel J Grant.
Eshraghian-Haakansson’s theatre directorial debut shows a promising talent in bringing a story on stage, working her screen skills into the show. The positioning of the viewers was an interesting choice, given the text-heavy visuals needing to be relayed separately to both sections of the audience. While they managed to display the text to both sides, it was at times too fast for even an avid reader like me, and could have been relied upon less to give space for the show to unravel more within the room. Regardless of the ratio of screen time to physical elements, the artistic direction was clear and was underpinned by a strong narrative.
Characterising emotions as people is a powerful tool that makes theatre a little different from other art forms, and I look forward to seeing what other themes this director brings into their repertoire as they explore this more immediate medium.
a love letter to the nightingale is on at The Blue Room Theatre from October 8-26.