⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Don’t watch Indigo UNLESS you want to open your mind, challenge your perspective, and learn something deeply moving about neurodivergence… in a show that also happens to be brilliantly funny, emotionally rich, and visually stunning. It is a show that has helped me pick up some new tips for working with teens who are mute, or with autism.

Starring the incredible Katie Cailean as Emma, this new musical explores the world through the eyes of a neurodivergent teenage girl navigating the complexities of bereavement and new beginnings. Cailean’s performance is tender, nuanced, and quietly powerful. She handles her role with grace and authenticity. Despite having no dialogue, we see stims and reactions which are impeccable. Emma bursts into song and we are invited into her head to hear everything she thinks, believes and feels. Emma might be mute, but she has a lot to say, and it deserves to be heard.

Rebecca Trehearn brings heartbreak and depth to the role of Beverly, a mother lost in her own emotional fog, while Lisa Maxwell is touching and humorous as colourful Elaine, a grandmother facing the early stages of dementia with quiet resolve. These are not caricatures or jokes. They are people. Real, flawed, vulnerable, and handled with the care they deserve. Elaine makes me laugh throughout. She is comical and she is at times misunderstood. She is a helper. Their opening up together on the couch scene was absolutely stunning and heartbreaking all mashed up in one messy ball of emotion. Maxwell’s ‘Elaine Knows Best’ is brilliant!

Hugo Rolland’s Tyler is charming and layered, and his growing friendship with Emma is an endearing element of the show. The bond between them builds naturally and delightfully and refreshingly avoids the easy romance trope in favour of something more honest and heartwarming. I loved their friendship bonding over comics and seeing their trust in one another grow. His duet with Cailean for ‘silent superstar’ was brilliant. Meanwhile, Nuno Queimado’s Rick is a fun and welcomed joy. He brings strength and emotional intelligence and warmth to all he touches. His performance of “it’s been a day” was humorous and fun and beautifully presented.

Tania Mathurin plays Alicia, the social worker we all wish children who needed one in real life got. She is soft spoken. Takes the time to learn her clients. And has a quiet understanding. Her solo, “Nobody Expects That”, is a beautifully sung showstopper. Alicia oozes sensitivity, compassion, and just the right touch of humour.

Musically, Indigo at times is reminiscent to the sounds of Dear Evan Hansen, with an emotional lyricism and contemporary feel that lands somewhere between heartfelt ballad and soaring anthem. At one point, a melody even seems to be similar to the emotional DNA of Gotta Go My Own Way from High School Musical 2. The music is gorgeous. It works. Completely.

But what elevates this show is its visual identity. The lighting and colour palette are nothing short of art. A muted, greige world, the drained reality of daily life, erupts into a kaleidoscope of synaesthetic colour, a literal explosion of emotion and sensory experience that is as breathtaking as it is meaningful. Lighting and costume design are not only beautiful. They are symbolic, intentional, and striking. Sound rumbles through the chairs and the auditorium. It really is a full sensory experience.

What makes Indigo so special is how it invites its audience in. It doesn’t preach. It doesn’t make victims or jokes out of its characters. Instead, it tells a story that’s honest, funny, deeply empathetic, and ultimately hopeful. You laugh, you cry, you learn. You will leave changed or with a deeper understanding.

This is, without doubt, one of the best new musicals I’ve seen in a while. Expertly written, sensitively performed, and visually unforgettable, Indigo is storytelling at its most compassionate and compelling. Deserves a tour. Deserves its flowers. If there’s one new show you take a ‘gamble’ on this year outside of the huge show names, make it be Indigo.

See it before it closes on Saturday 19th July at Curve.

P.S can we get a studio recording STAT because some of these songs need adding to my musicals favourites playlist asap!