Avalanche Chills with Blue

Billing itself as Chicago’s home for new play development, newcomer Avalanche Theatre has built a following through a Next Draft series and a new plays festival.  At last they have chosen one of their artistic “children” to bring to full production in the airy light filled Bramble Arts Loft in Andersonville. World premiere Time is a Color and the Color is Blue by Melanie Coffey is something of an immersive experience: the theatre is done up like an ice cave and it was quite chilly as we left the sunny lobby of Bramble to move into cold darkness of the intimate black box.

In this story, glaciologist Whittaker, played by solid and smart Alice Wu, has found a prehistoric cave painting.  Unfortunately she has chosen to go look for it as a catastrophic storm is blowing in and her research team mates are trying to find her to evacuate even as team leader Bridget (the no nonsense Martina Logan) is having a crisis of confidence in the face of uncontrollable options. It is intimated that all of this group of researchers has baggage: Jackson (played by faithful Bryan Nicholas Carter) was relieved of leadership due to another research trip disaster. 

An avalanche seals the cave and Whittaker must face her past, her demons, and a lack of oxygen which produces hallucinatory visits from her high powered sister (Stephanie Fongheiser), her dead mother (a practical and glamorous Sabine Wan) and two purportedly prehistoric figures who have made the cave art and represent the earth seeking an apology.  

There is a lot to unpack in Whittaker’s monologues: it's not easy for a kid obsessed with climate science to fit in to a world with expectations for little girls, her sense of responsibility for her mother’s freak death, her grief over her lost relationships due possibly to her dedication to her research.  Spoiler alert: in the end she will survive, but a great deal is broken and lost with that. Director Zoe Sjogerman has helmed a connected ensemble and kept the story moving, and made sure we feel a connection with Whittaker as we worry for her survival. 

Micaela McCabe and Ab Rieve’s set is brilliant: composed of essentially plastic garbage, it glows like polar ice and will last on the planet longer than glaciers which underlines that this play is partially about climate change.  

Avalanche is midwife to all kinds of new stories and you can witness this play  Time is a Color and the Color is Blue get a lovely start Thursdays through Mondays through May 24th at the Bramble Art Loft, 5545 N Clark Street in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, for tickets and information go to https://www.avalanchetheatre.com/production/time-is-a-color-and-the-color-is-blue

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