As my best friend from high school Hamlet used to say: Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t. And I can’t find a better phrase to describe the Blue Man Group Show. Before going to the premiere of their brand new program last Tuesday at Potsdamer Platz I expected some light-hearted comedy musical with funny blue people doing hilarious things. What I did not expect was that the Blue Man Group show would reveal new conclusions about Western society – or maybe even human society in general – to my mind. Follow my thoughts after the jump.
First things first. I knew that Blue Man Group would be a high quality production with tons of special effects, projections of all kinds and even some real life interaction with the audience. This was all fine and having my experience in the theater business I can appreciate a well produced show when I see one.
I would definitely commit sin number 9 (You shall not lie) telling you that the blue men hit my taste in humor. In contrary, I never saw something that made me so profoundly perplexed. But as an anthropological experience the Blue Man Group show was the best performance I had in the last year. I bet not even meeting Marina Abramovic in person would have stimulated so many thoughts about human kind as this show.
We all need projections to reflect ourselves to understand the essence of the human being. But the Blue Man Group does not give you any chance for projection. They are so inhuman that you have a hard time imagining that there are real actors of flesh and bone under the blue masks. As if a species from another planet had come to Earth to demonstrate to us what is so precious about being a human being just by being the complete opposite.
As the anthropocene theory goes: Nature as we know it is a concept that belongs to the past. Humanity forms nature. To think there is a possibility to distort human nature to such an extend that you would not even recognize it at all, made me speechless. Nature does really not exist anymore. Even human nature is gone. By seeing the Blue Man Group I finally understood the anthropocene concept to the fullest.
My dear, arty-farty-reader: Please take into the consideration to go to Blue Man Group instead of Volksbühne. Don’t go there for light entertainment but for a real mind-blowing anthropological experience and you will have no other choice than to appreciate the master mind that created this show.
More infos on the Blue Man Group.
Stage Bluemax Theater Potsdamer Platz
