REVIEW: BLUEWATER by Grace Quigley at King’s Head Theatre, 18 – 29 October 2022

‘A dynamic, powerful and stunning ode to the LGBTQ+ community.’ ★★★★★ 

Grace Quigley’s one-woman-show takes us down a journey through friendship, teenage love and sexual awakening set against the backdrop of 2000s British life and pop culture. 

Thrusting us into it with a series of voice-over monologues about coming out, living and loving as a lesbian and what it all means, Bluewater is bold, hilarious and delightfully in-your-face. We follow a teenage girl in her quest to live out her wildest teenage fantasies, complete with parties, drinking, sex and cigarettes, alongside her best friend Lulu, whom she deems ‘perfect’ in a beautiful foreshadowing moment. Right off the bat, 2000s nostalgia kicks in pretty quickly: as our main character gets dressed in her iconography-filled bedroom, the radio blasts some of the decade’s most iconic tunes, as well as some of its most controversial TV and Westminster moments and what follows is a trip down memory lane we didn’t realise we wanted and, indeed, needed, to go on. 

Bluewater’s sharp humour is perfectly balanced out by some increasingly emotional moments, culminating in an intense monologue in which the play takes a surprisingly dark turn, reminding us all that we still have a long way to go. And as our main character realises that she can no longer pretend to be someone she’s not, angst and heartache take over, only to be replaced by a triumphant moment of self-discovery.

At only forty-five minutes long, Bluewater flies by. Grace Quigley’s writing is flawless and is complemented by her note-perfect coming timing and vulnerability. A dynamic, powerful and stunning ode to the LGBTQ+ community and a much-needed one indeed. A modern masterpiece. 

BLUEWATER

Written and Performed by Grace Quigley

Produced and Directed by Ianthe Bathurst

18 – 29 October 2022, King’s Head Theatre

Box Office https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/bluewater

Twitter @Bluewater_play

Reviewer: Carol Saint Martin is a screenwriter, playwright, pop culture blogger, magazine contributor and film host at the Cinema Museum. Her TV pilot DEADLINE, REDFERN CITY and her stage plays have reached the finals of several competitions.