Blues For An Alabama Sky
27 September 2022
National Theatre
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
I recently got a chance to see Blues For An Alabama Sky at the National Theatre.
Set in New York in the 1930s, the piece focuses on a small group of friends in Harlem. Starting to feel the sting of the Great Depression, Angel just lost her job as a singer, and mistress, and struggles to find a new engagement, while her best friend Guy has big dreams of becoming a fashion designer in Paris. The two bump into a newcomer from Alabama, who falls hard fro Angel, but his religious grounding doesn’t seem to mesh with her loose lifestyle. Their neighbour Delia is working hard to set up the first birth-control clinic in Harlem with the help of local doctor Sam.
When Angel is offered another indecent work commitment, she has to make difficult choices that ripple through her group of friends with devastating consequences.
The production is beautifully presented, with gorgeous songs interspersed in the bleak story. Blues For An Alabama Sky shines a light on artists with big dreams in a time when living is tough and dreams are hard to hold on to.
It’s a deeply emotional story, another wonderful production at the National.