JIM BAUER + MEGHAN MCGEARY

From its origins as a small venue cabaret show to its current iteration as a large American Repertory Theater production, The Blue Flower, named after the German Expressionist notion of the eternal pursuit of the unattainable, has gone through many changes in the 10 years that creators Jim and Ruth Bauer and actress Meghan McGeary have been working on the production.

I LOVE THIS IDEA OF THE BLUE FLOWER, THE UNATTAINABLE. DID GETTING THIS SHOW PRODUCED EVER FEEL LIKE THAT? LIKE A SISYPHEAN PURSUIT?

JIM: Yes. “Sisyphean” is a good word. Very early on, we realized that the title was apt. We were constantly evolving, but never looking too far ahead.

MEGHAN: To me, on a grander scale, it’s come to symbolize my life as an artist. I have the blue flower tattooed on my back, actually.

OH, AWESOME.

MEGHAN: Would you like to see it?

I LOVE IT WHEN PEOPLE GET TATTOOS OF PROJECTS THEY’VE WORKED ON.

MEGHAN: Yeah.

READING THE SYNOPSIS OF THIS SHOW, I CAN’T IMAGINE THAT THE SOURCE OF INSPIRATION WAS SINGULAR.

JIM: Well, first was the music: the Weimar period. In general, just this light and dark aspect to it, portentous on one hand, and light and playfully whimsical on the other. The whole combination is sort of bipolar. I was interested in that feeling in general. And I come from Texas, and country music has always been important to me, and the only important thing to me about Texas.

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK? IN ANOTHER 10 YEARS, CAN WE EXPECT ANOTHER SHOW FROM YOU?

JIM: [laughs] The idea of doing another show is a little beyond me right now. For now, we’re here doing this thing.

[The Blue Flower. Through 1.8.11. Loeb Drama Center, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Sq., Cambridge. 617.495.2668. $25 and up. americanrepertorytheater.org]