A contemporary version of Arthur Schnitzler's 19th century play, "La Ronde," "The Blue Room" was originally produced off-Broadway before its celebrated Broadway debut in 1998, starring Nicole Kidman and Iain Glen.
The play's cast is made up of only one woman and one man, each portraying 10 different characters in 10 scenes that make up a year's time. In what director Brent Smith, a sophomore drama major, called "a sexual daisy chain," the characters find themselves in a series of intimate situations that form the play's storyline.
"It provides a pretty frank look at the sexual landscape of modern western society," Smith said. "But the sex aspect isn't the main focus; it's about the miscommunication between men and women and how that leads to sexual encounters."
Stage manager Meghan Burns, a junior psychology major, said she thought the play's insight into each character's personal issues gives it a broad appeal.
"There's something in each of the characters that anyone can identify with," Burns said. "It's social commentary, but it's not very heavy -- it's more personal."
Junior Carey Sveen and sophomore Grant Austin, both drama majors, make up the play's two-member cast. Sveen said "The Blue Room" is "beautiful, magical, very sexual and provocative."
Sveen, Austin and Smith agreed that their two months of practicing for the play have provided them with a unique opportunity to develop their acting skills.
"I think what appealed a lot to me initially was that working with five different characters in 10 different sexual scenes would provide a new situation as an actor," Austin said.
"It's really heightened our awareness of what's sexy," Smith said. "UNC, in the couple of years that I've been here, has never seen anything like this."
