We are so launched into the realities and specificities of these character’s lives—Nat is open about each and every action of her day, and Roan, as per usual, plays things close to the chest—that we may feel like we are simply sitting across the bedroom from them. Their passionate dynamic alone could make a compelling storyline. But alas.
From here the story develops quickly, a plus for theatre-goers who like productions to go somewhere big and get there fast.
Within a 30-second scene change, with red flashing background lighting and a sketchy overhead wire lamp being lowered from the ceiling, we are transported to Russia. Stemming from Roan’s work collecting data for the U.S. government, she ends up marooned in the security closet of a Russian airport.
Here, along with her wife who flew across the world to see her, their lives change drastically and permanently.
American Blues Theater puts us in paranoia whirlwind
We are in a 75-minute whirlwind of paranoia and raw emotion. The storyline is set to reflect the real fears of American citizens in 2020. We get mired in government data mining—the very project Roan “perfected” before being blacklisted. We are overcome with fear of skewed media coverage, living through the experience of our two characters as news stations in both America and Russia spin a web of lies enclosing Roan in the middle of them.
“Let me be your advocate”
As the story unfolds, homophobia and racism both play their hand—and we get a glimpse of how these issues play out in the drastically different American and Russian societies. Nat says, “Imagine what they would do to me?” if she too had to move to Russia, where support for LGBTQ+ members is few and far between, not to mention that her skin color is not “translucent,” as her wife would put it.
