Blue Blouse

Inspired by the Blue Blouse theatre movement of the Soviet Union in the 1920s this work from an original script by Penelope Dimond sought to re-create the energy and vibrant atmosphere of the Blue Blouse’s own performances. Lasting just short of an hour the first staging of the work featured twenty-two performers, and included live music and dance.

The Blue Blouse (Синяя блуза) theatre troupe were an influential agitprop theatre collective, created by Boris Yuzhanin under the auspices of the Moscow Institute of Journalism. They were a very important theatre movement, now long forgotten. They thrived between 1923 and 1927, when they merged with the Workers Youth Theatre.

I directed the original staging at Pushkin House in London in October 2016, and subsequently at the Royal Academy in London as part of their RA Lates New Soviet World event in February 2017. I directed again when it was staged at The Marx Memorial Library in May 2017. All three stagings have been markedly different, with variations of script, cast, and cast numbers. This remains an ongoing project with The New Factory.

May 2017 – The Marx Memorial Library – London
February 2017 – The Royal Academy – London
October 2016 – The Pushkin Club – London