Joel invites his siblings, Adam and Gloria, to his newly purchased cottage by the lake to celebrate the success of his first novel. As the family gathers over a weekend, we discover Joel has spent much of his life under the tyranny of his now deceased parents and in the shadow of his siblings. Adam has traveled the country as a successful motivational speaker to athletes. Gloria is an honours student, completing a degree in journalism while interning at a New York City newspaper. Her job this weekend is to write an article about Joel's successful book, which is a #1 bestseller on the New York Times and has put Joel in the spotlight.
The sunny afternoon clouds over and the celebratory weekend turns into a time of reckoning with buried pain. As Gloria digs through the hidden meanings in Joel’s novel, secrets from all of their lives rise uncomfortably to the surface. What is revealed changes each of their perceptions, both of themselves and their collective family history.
Profoundly moving and told with a sarcastic wit, Blue is a bold take on a family picking up the pieces of their lives to find healing in the dark places where no one wants to go.
Keywords: Dysfunctional family, childhood, secrets, lies, abuse, drinking, novelist, journalism, classical music, sports, witty, healing, hopeful, miracle, sky, cottage, one set/location
Produced as a Cloud 9 Co-op Production at The Village Playhouse, Toronto ON, June 2008.
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Dark Comedy
Acts: 1
Run time: 90 minutes
Content note: Contains references to abuse.
Cast size: 3 actors
Male roles: 2
Female roles: 1
Casting breakdown:Â
Joel, 34
(middle sibling, brother to Adam and Gloria, novelist, secretive, shy, beginning to make something of his troubled life)
Adam, 40
(oldest sibling, brother to Joel and Gloria, a successful motivational speaker, talks the big talk, drinks more than he should)
Gloria, 21
(youngest sibling, sister to Joel and Adam, a graduate of journalism, perceptive, inquisitive, eager to learn more about the hidden meanings behind Joel’s new book)
"Ciolfi finds peace in writing"
- Streeter.ca
You can read more about the playwright on his website where he blogs about life, his writing and productions of his work:Â www.studiosperanza.caÂ