The amazing Blue Box is a 90-minute memoir to author and actor Carmen Aguirre’s life as a freedom fighter in Chile. Whether it’s being subjected to government surveillance or undertaking perilous missions to deliver supplies through the Andes, Aguirre’s story is seeping in political unrest and secret-life paranoia.
But Blue Box is also seeping in something else. Aguirre almost immediately tells us that the title of the play is actually Blue Cunt (as in “blue balls” for women) and there’s lots of steamy talk about hot, steamy sex with a steamy Chicano stud-monkey. The romantic and sexual content kind of takes the edge off all of the political content, with enough common threads running between lust and sacrifice. And I’m sure that’s what Aguirre planned when writing this play, which is loosely based on her 2012 Canada Reads winner, Something Fierce.
Aguirre, who has a background in television and film acting, absolutely commands her stage during most of the 90 minutes of Blue Box. Although, there is a patch during the last quarter of the play, right before the climax, that drags. Drags pretty hard, actually. So I suppose knocking 10-15 minutes off would be a decent idea.
When Aguirre gets audience participation from the show, something that’s built into the script since she’s constantly talking to us, not around us, that’s when it really becomes intriguing. One elderly lady was asked to “shadow” Aguirre to show how it messes with your mind, and then Aguirre shadowed her. The poor lady looked very uncomfortable and then left the theatre a few minutes later. Further proof that being a dissident in a Chile is a whole lot unnerving. In contrast, an extended crowd dance sequence had several audience members up on stage salsa grinding; that was pretty cool, too.
Blue Box is talky, but not in an overwhelming way. Aguirre is a rare personality that can penetrate deep into our hearts (and our groins) and come up with some universal truths amongst the political intrigue. People rave about her book all the time; now they can rave about her play. A perfect way to cap off a rather impressive UNO Fest.