The truly terrifying new play by F.R. Maher
Out of The Blue is the follow up to F,R. Maher's successful play Sherlock Holmes and The Man Who Believed in Fairies. Set largely in 1926, it was produced at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2024, where it attracted an audience of almost 700. It also played to great success at Malvern Theatres, The Theatre Royal, Bath and Greenwich Theatre, London in late 2025
By contrast, Out of The Blue, is set in the near future. F.R. Maher has form in dealing with this genre, having created the memorable character of Huw, (played by Owen Teale), for the GALWAD project in 2022. Huw - received 2.30pm, Wed 28 Sept / Derbyniwyd y neges 2.30yp, Mercher 28 Medi
creating monsters
The genesis of the story ...
It started with a simple piece of 'homework,' a request from Emyr John of Theatr Clwyd to the writing group Cwils. 'Go out into the gallery, pick a piece of artwork there and write a scene about it.'
F,R. Maher knew immediately what piece to choose. It was 'Glimmers in Blue' by the talented glass artist, Verity Pulford. Painstakingly created in layers of pate de verre, intricately coloured and delicately sandblasted, it is an arresting piece of art. But what are those things? Organic, obviously. Are they flowers, coral or fungi? Imagining them propelling themselves lazily through the deep oceans, displaying a dazzling array of bioluminescence, F.R. Maher created a brief scene of such horror, it thrilled Emyr who demanded she had to write the rest of the play.
This is how 'Glimmers in Blue, ' a work of art, was transmuted into 'Out of The Blue,' a truly terrifying play for theatre. Emyr was very complimentary about this accomplished piece of writing. It also came to the attention of ex-theatre critic and playwright, Andrew Rissik Andrew Rissik - Wikipedia who wrote:
I read and really liked Out Of The Blue. I can see why Emyr did too. It has great narrative tension - no slack or redundant stuff. It reads beautifully - very lean and clear.
In rehearsals as of February 2026, you can be one of the very first people to enjoy being terrified by this dynamic new work! Tickets and venues will be announced here.
As a postscript, the original art exhibition at Theatre Clwyd featured entries to The North Wales Open Arts Competition and Glimmers in Blue took the top prize!