Blue Man Group is a deliberate enigma. The author and director of the Bluevolution World Tour are not credited, and the three Blue Men who perform are anonymous. The impression is, therefore, that Blue Man Group are strangers in a culture other than their own and, being slightly bemused by what they find, are willing to share their interpretation of our customs. Much of the humour comes from the mood being dead serious as if the Blue Men are trying to do their best but puzzled as to if they are hitting the target.
At The Lowry, there is the opportunity to study the Blue Men in fine detail as, pre-show, the trio wander into the bar, pouring drinks, studying bar mats as if they are esoteric artefacts and respectfully offering an orange juice to a youngster who is regarded as someone to venerate. There is the impression we are being studied by explorers from some alien land and, as a side benefit, given the chance to appreciate the stagecraft of the performers. Their faces are unmoving and eyes unblinking and their arms, like a cheap doll, are semi-bent and tense, never hanging loose, all adding to the sense of alien lifeforms visiting our planet.
In the theatre, the usual cautions about turning off mobile phones alternate with surreal reminders to also refrain from sexting, farbling or plerking. Celebrities are welcomed by name as, indeed, are non-entities—the Blue Men not making any distinction.
The Bluevolution World Tour is the first visit of the Blue Men to the UK for over a decade, and some changes are apparent. The Blue Men are joined by a new character called “The Rockstar’’, a multi-instrumentalist with a penchant for percussion. One of the more up-to-date routines features the emasculating effect of being unable to set an Internet password which is considered ‘strong’ (I can relate).
Yet the Blue Men do not hold back, choosing to open with their greatest hit: creating abstract artworks by pounding a rhythm on massive drums filled with paint so that the inevitable splashes onto canvas form artworks worthy of the Turner Prize. Conceptual art is a target for satire throughout the show. A remarkable juggling routine, involving the Blue Men catching capsules in their mouths, climaxes with them spitting the contents onto canvas to form artworks. Naturally we know it is art as a price tag is attached.
The Blue Men have a fondness for percussion and, er, plumbing. Pipes and ducts hang around the edge of the stage, and one routine allows the trio to combine their enthusiasms—belting out a rhythm on a collection of tubes.
Audience involvement is, as you would expect, off-centre. Patrons seated close to the stage are issued plastic ponchos to minimise the risk of getting splashed by the enthusiastic trio. The Blue Men do not hesitate to tease; an elaborate set-up that would have resulted in the audience getting soaked ends prematurely as the group break off to serenade latecomers. As The Blue Men do not speak, volunteers invited on stage have to guess what is required of them and hope for the best as they find themselves being nudged towards courtship.
Bluevolution World Tour helps you appreciate the strangeness in life whilst being very funny.