The title entices. The sets seduce. The costumes enchant. The puppets, the music, the masks, the scrims _ indeed, all the elements seem to be in place for The Blue Demon, what the Huntington Theatre Company is marketing as a "theatrical spectacle." Unfortunately, Demon, written and directed by Resident Director Darko Tresnjak, fails in living up to its own magic.
The central focus of Demon is on the power of stories. Using the Arabian Nights tale as its context, Demon is a multi-leveled frame story constructed in fourths: The Hunchback's Tale (the prologue, if you will), The Tailor's Tale, The Scrivener's Tale, and the Jeweler's Tale. Each story deftly incorporates some of the more creative theatrical elements; music, dance, puppetry, scrims, smoke, and scarves are all used to flesh out the men's respective stories. Tresnjak's Demon is undeniably an extremely aesthetically pleasing show. The scene, costume, and lighting design (done by David P. Gordon, Linda Cho, and Rui Rita, respectively) are dazzling. Warm jewel tones fill the stage, creating a vibrant and romantic Damascus brimming with mysticism.
Beautiful fa?§ade aside, however, the show lacks definition. It fails in defining who it wants its audience to be and, in turn, fails to come together as a cohesive and independent work. In some of its strongest moments, it plays as a children's show with enough clever humor and dialogue to nimbly cater to the accompanying parental audience. However, each one of these moments has its match made in an opposite dynamic; the show plays as an adult fairy tale as often as it does a children's story.
Like any good fairy tale, the stories are infused with an overt tone of morality. The script, however, could stand to learn a thing or two from its own form; perhaps had there been stories of "It-Is-Not-What-Is-On-The-Outside-But-What-Is-On-The-Inside-That-Counts" or "One-Must-Know-His-Audience-To-Know-Himself" included in the script, then the script could have been the work that it aimed to be.
Performed without an intermission, the show frequently drags. However, the ensemble acting is very good; the team of players that brings the tales to life infuses its performances with a natural energy that allows for some of the show's flaws to be forgiven.
Standing out from the ensemble is Anna Belknap, who played the female lead in each of the three stories. Belknap is, simply put, an amazing performer. She possesses that certain "star" quality that makes her irresistible to watch whenever she is on stage. With great singing, dancing, and acting skills _ and flawless comedic timing to boot _ I can only hope to see Belknap assume the lead in any musical comedy that comes her way.
The performance begins with Scherezade laying the foundation for her story, which in turn becomes the central storyline of the show. This story involves a Jewish tailor, a Muslim jeweler, and a Christian scrivener _ all of whom stand accused of killing the Sultan's favorite jester. And, as fate (or at least the confines of the script) would have it, each thinks that he is responsible for the jester's death. The Sultan is both outraged and completely destitute upon learning of his jester's death because the jester had told him stories which kept him from falling prey to the Blue Demon of his fears who came to him at night and kept him from sleeping.
Death is deemed a suitable form of punishment for the three accused men by the Sultan's standards until Scherezade intervenes and suggests that each man tell the Sultan a story. The man with the best story will live and become the Sultan's new jester and the other two men will assume their sentence of death.
Perhaps, if writer/director Tresjnak had paid greater attention to the foundation of his production _ the story itself _ and less on creating a m?©lange of all that can be considered theatrical, Demon would have been a much more unified piece of theatre. For now, however, it is an entertaining-enough piece of theatre, and an impressive display of visual elements, in search of an audience.
The Blue Demon runs through February 2 at the Huntington Theatre Company. Tickets range from $14 to $64. For tickets or more information, call the Huntington Box Office at 617-266-0800 or visit www.huntingtontheatre.org.
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