Director
discusses first play ‘Blue Room’
By Christine G. Adamo
On-line Forty-Niner
“Restlessness,
longing. These things haven’t changed all
that much in the name of what we call progress.”
- Hugh O’Gorman quoting “The Blue Room”
 O’Gorman,
the new head of acting at Cal State Long
Beach, responded to questions about his
and the aforementioned play’s debut at the
Players Theatre this Friday night.
Q: What can you tell our readers about “The
Blue Room?”
A: “The Blue Room” is [David Hare’s] adaptation
of Arthur Schnitzer’s play, “Reigen,” written
in 1900. Schnitzer was part of the Austrian
cultural elite, hanging out with Sigmund
Freud. [He was] hanging out with people
who were trying to figure out sexual behavior,
certainly Freud.
Max Ofel’s film adaptation, “La Ronde,”
made the play famous. Schnitzer is a writer
whose work resurfaces every 30 years or
so. Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 “Eyes Wide Shut”
was obviously based on it.
Q: Why did you choose this play?
A: I chose it because it’s topical. It’s
still pertinent in terms of things not having
changed all that much. People are still
courting each other in the same way. We’re
still missing each other in the night. We’re
hooking up with the wrong people. We’re
still getting divorced. We’re having anonymous
sex, and all for the sake of human touch.
I’m setting it in a metaphor for techno
clubs with banging industrial music - the
kind of impersonal, zeitgeist underground
movement that’s going on in America…it’s
a very impersonal experience. If you go
to a rave, or a club like that, everyone’s
on drugs. They’re completely disconnected
from one another. The music is so loud.
It’s an industrial sound. That’s so anti-human.
I think [students] can relate to that.
Q: How many crew and cast members are working
on the production?
A: At least 20, including the people that
are working on costumes and lights. There
are 10 actors. Each actor plays in two scenes.
There are 10 scenes.
Q: How will that work?
A: The first scene involves a girl and a
cab driver. In the second scene, we hand
the baton to the cab driver and it’s the
cab driver and an au pair. The third scene
involves the au pair and a student…a daisy-chain
effect.
Q: Who are the cast members and what is
their background?
A: They are all undergraduate students [at
Cal State Long Beach]. I don’t know if they’re
all theater majors. They had to audition
for their parts. They’re doing a fantastic
job. Their enthusiasm and desire to do good
work has been impressive.
Q: Hare’s adaptation ran in London and on
Broadway in 1998, starring Nicole Kidman
and Iain Glen. What do you think of English
theater critic Charles Spenser having called
it “pure theatrical Viagra?”
A: I think he was to some extent talking
about Nicole Kidman being absolutely naked
on stage. I think there’s more to it than
that. There’s some real substance here.
One of the things you get to see [in this
production] is the development of relationships.
Q: When and where will “The Blue Room” run?
A: We open Oct. 11 and run through Oct.
26 at the Players Theatre on campus.
Q: Any final comments?
A: Come see the show - you won’t be bored!
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