All Blood Runs Red - Northern Arts Review
at the Leeds Playhouse
All Blood Runs Red- Northern Arts
“A story should have a beginning, a middle, and an end… but not necessarily in that order.”
Jean-Luc Godard’s comment on post-modern narrative perfectly sum up the storytelling style of All Blood Runs Red. This one-man show, starring Morgan Bailey, is a meditation on race, identity, and forgotten history. Blending cinematic techniques with live theatre, the production takes a layered approach to storytelling that goes beyond what you’d typically see on stage. Utilising creative projection techniques, immersive sound design, and a deeply personal script, All Blood Runs Red is a bold theatrical experience that, while sometimes a little too ambitious, remains compelling and memorable.
The play’s structure is both intricate and unconventional. Rather than following a straightforward timeline, All Blood Runs Red weaves together overlapping themes and narratives. Unfolding as a kind of “play within a play,” Morgan moves fluidly between different roles—sometimes discussing a film pitch about Eugene Bullard, and other times reflecting on his own experiences as a Black actor in a French film production. This approach is both fascinating and, at times, a little disorienting.
The play, titled after the slogan painted on Eugene Bullard’s fighter plane, is framed as a film pitch told to Morgan’s friends. Bullard’s story is extraordinary; a man whose incredible life has, like many significant Black contributions to history, been largely overlooked. A boxer, jockey, fighter pilot, jazz musician, and spy—his boundary-defying life plays like fiction. The audience is drawn into his story but is also asked to compare and contrast it with Morgan’s own experiences in the French film industry, where his role as Jimmy, an American serviceman, is both crucial and poorly understood by the film’s creators. This intertwined storytelling approach means the audience hears about Bullard’s legacy rather than fully experiencing it, which sometimes feels at odds with the play’s goal of bringing his story to life.
Produced by imitating the dog, this inventive theatre company has built a reputation for pushing boundaries. Known for combining technology and live performance, they bring their signature style to All Blood Runs Red with skill. The collaboration between director Tyrone Huggins and artistic directors Pete Brooks, Andrew Quick, and Simon Wainwright results in a production that feels fresh and challenges traditional theatrical forms.
To see my full review, please visit Northern Arts Review
See you in the shadows my loves,
Sean x
