A toxic mix of doctors and power
Blue/Orange (Young Vic) Verdict: Doctors in charge
WHY are doctors so warmly regarded by the public? Sixteen years ago, Joe Penhall wrote Blue/ Orange, a play which sketches medical arrogance, careerism and professional one-upmanship at a psychiatric clinic.
It has just been revived at the Young Vic with David haig playing the older of two white doctors.
their patient is a young black man, Christopher (Daniel Kaluuya), who is plainly not quite right. among other things, he thinks oranges are blue in colour and claims he is the son of Idi amin.
Young Dr Bruce Flaherty (Luke Norris) wants to detain him for further treatment. Dr Robert Smith (Mr haig) thinks the patient should be sent home, not least because he is costing the system money.
Dr Smith argues, basically, that many of us are a bit dotty and Christopher could easily return to becoming a useful member of society.
as the doctors clash, Dr Smith plays the seniority card, while Dr Flaherty cockily tells his boss he is wrong. Christopher’s race becomes an explosive issue. the colour of a piece of fruit may be important in psychiatric diagnosis, but are we not meant to ignore people’s colour?
Whose side is playwright Penhall on? he never quite tells us — but he does show us a world in which professional rivalries trump concern for patients, and in which management hearings and complaints procedures are now as big a part of doctors’ lives as anything to do with medical expertise.
this is not an easy play to love. the to-ing and fro-ing of debate about Christopher’s ‘borderline personality disorder’ may be skilfully researched, but my eyes were soon glazing like a patient on too heavy a dose of tranquiliser.
Nor, though it grieves me to say so, is Mr haig credible as a consultant psychiatrist. Normally, I like little better than to watch this fine performer on stage, but here his quavering, high-pitched voice seems wrong for a senior medical figure playing crafty office politics.
If young Flaherty is also hard to believe, that may be the fault of the script rather than Mr Norris, who does what he can with the role. But the real star of the cast is Mr Kaluuya as Christopher. he gives a performance of deft edginess, his eyes darting and wary.
The entire thing is played in the round in a meeting room at the clinic. When Christopher is asked to leave the room, Mr Kaluuya jumps down into a moat around the stage.
a few things date the play: a reference to the Millennium Dome, smoking in the clinic, the blatant bossiness of the older doc. today’s medics tend to be a great deal more sterile in any verdicts.
at the interval of the last preview I attended, I was finding it slightly punishing — mental health, though a worthy subject, is not one I find fascinating.
But the second half is shorter and more engrossing.
this is when the manipulative manner of doctors is accentuated, and when we are given a clearer idea of the medical profession as gaolers.