Indigo, A Blues Opera

Slave Woman Gets Woman, Loses Woman, Struggles to Get Woman Back

By Bob Morrison

The subhead above tells in words what producer, director and author Karmet Mayet Johnson's "Indigo, A Blues Opera" portrays in dance, mime, and music. Tomas Doncker as Papa Mosiah, the Guitar Man provides a gentle, slow blues background on two guitars and two Dobros in turn.



But the effects are mostly visual, and dancers Ashley Brockington and Karma Mayet Johnson speak for themselves in their own vocabulary. Throughout, members of The Painted Lady Performance Project create eerie and effective tableaux, mime commentary on the action, and serve as scenery and stage decoration. A sampling from Indigo below without further comment.












This production is billed as a condensed version of an evening-length opera. At almost 90 minutes for this staging, the full opera will certainly rival Wagner's oevre in the stamina demanded of its audience. Fortunately the Fringe performance takes place in the Warehouse Main Stage, and you can bring in the refreshments you bought at the Warehouse cafe. (Don't forget to tip the bartender!)

To see more photographs from "Indigo, A Blues Opera," visit my Bonnie Briar Productions web site.

Cheers.
Bob