“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened,” author Anatole France as soon as declared.
Animal lovers agree. Indeed, the wordless love between individuals and animals has lengthy been acknowledged as therapeutic balm providing consolation, companionship and mirth to these fortunate sufficient to type such bonds.
Blue Valiant, playwright Karen Malpede’s newest work, zeroes in on the relationship between people and horses, particularly between a wild roan named Blue and a retired public relations govt (performed with gorgeous magnificence and heart-shattering restraint by Kathleen Chalfant) named Hanna Doyle who’s mourning each the drug-overdose dying of her solely little one and the dissolution of her marriage. At her wit’s finish with grief and rage, when Doyle sees Blue galloping in an open, however fenced-in, area, she is instantly smitten.
Money isn’t any object so she approaches a close-by barn and rapidly launched herself to the aged man sitting exterior (performed with gruff disaffection by George Bartenieff) and inquires about the possession of the horse. Within minutes she presents the man, Sam Brown, $10,000. Brown is nonplussed, cautious, and informs Doyle that it is a horse that may neither be owned nor educated. In truth, he describes the roan as uncontrollable, seemingly intent on destroying himself by repeatedly ramming his physique into the fence. But Doyle will not be deterred. Instead, the problem intrigues her and she units out to befriend Blue, visiting him every day with a handful of carrots and good intentions.
Heather Doyle is at wit’s finish with grief and rage when she sees Blue galloping in a open, however fenced-in area. She is instantly smitten.
What unfolds over the subsequent 82 minutes is an intense meditation on freedom, love, endurance, taming and compromise. In brief, it’s the stuff of human connection.
In addition, as an uneasy alliance develops between Sam and Hannah — he needs her cash and she needs Blue –— the pair discover themselves in an off-kilter however oddly significant relationship. Later, when Maya Zelaya, an undocumented Central American teenager whose father was deported by ICE brokers, (well-played by Millie Ortiz) briefly enters the combine, the viewers witnesses Blue’s gradual transformation. The reciprocal bonds that unfurl calm the horse whereas at the similar time enabling Hannah and Maya to deal with their horrific losses and the rootlessness of unanticipated political and private upheaval.

Blue Valiant was carried out outdoor at the Farm Arts Collective in Damascus, Pennsylvania, final May. An unique rating by Arthur Rosen and projected photographs of Blue created by horse photographer Ellen Lynch gave the story added depth and gravitas. But whereas the manufacturing was extraordinarily well-received, the persevering with COVID-19 pandemic has made further performances unsure. Thankfully, a filmed model of Blue Valiant is now out there on YouTube. .
Blue Valiant was produced by Theater Three Collaborative in affiliation with the Farm Arts Collective, written by Karen Malpede, starring George Bartenieff, Kathleen Chalfant, and Millie Ortiz. Music by Arthur Rosen. Photo projections by Ellen Lynch. 82 minutes, 2021, out there on YouTube.
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