Gripping tale covers some weighty issues
Blue/orange is a riveting, word-dense exploration of the big themes of power, racism, education and the state of the NHS.
Yet – lest you think this is all a bit weighty for an evening’s entertainment – the play is also brilliantly acted, well staged, full of wit and darkly funny.
Written by Joe Penhall (he of Netflix thriller Mindhunter), it was a multiaward winning production in 2001. The author has now rejigged it with co-creators and actors Giles Terera, Michael Balogun, Ralph Davis, and director James Dacre.
The play takes place in one 24-hour period in a London psychiatric hospital in which a black man - Christopher (Balogun) - has been sectioned and treated for borderline personality disorder.
The focus is on him, for tomorrow his 28 days are up, his bags are packed and he’s looking forward to leaving and having a cup of coffee.
But his doctor, young white intern Bruce (Davis), doesn’t think Chris is ready to leave. He calls in consultant Robert (Terera) to sit in on the final interview in a bid to convince him that Chris should not be released.
Where both psychiatrists were white men in the original, the consultant is a black man in this production, capturing the three men’s differing ideologies on race, power, aspirations and identity.
The psychiatrists disagree on the diagnosis. What Bruce thinks demonstrates that Chris is psychotic – he sees oranges as blue – Robert considers to be an ethnocentric clash of culture.
There’s now a new power shift as Robert is Bruce’s boss and calls the shots. Chris is sent out of the room while they discuss what is normal, what is borderline dysfunctional.
Robert quotes Ginsberg, Tintin and Laingian philosophy. It’s both illuminating and funny.
As the psychiatrist’s own personal agendas gradually become apparent the patient’s needs are almost forgotten in their battle to convince him of their point of view.
Is Chris borderline psychotic (or Radio Rental as he calls it in rhyming slang)? By now he’s so confused that he may well be, although he seems quite normal when he drily responds to a description of Robert’s partwritten book on cultural specificity with: “Sounds like a smash hit to me, man!”
The dramatic tension never lets up, heightened further by accusations of casual racism, drug taking and a final confounding revelation by Chris.
But the dynamic between these excellent actors keeps us gripped from one moment to the next, from one idea to another.
This is not just a war of words – we care about them.
Simon Kenny’s stark black and grey set of a series of squares offers the perfect symbolic staging – part institutional, part boxing ring for a lively bout of semantics.
The only contrast comes from a central bowl of oranges, and even perception of their colour is open to interpretation.
Twenty years on, this play is more relevant than ever. Just a quick run through recent headlines about abuse of power, institutional and sporting racism, mental health provision, or educational inequalities shows that very clearly.
Go and see it – it’s well worth the price of a ticket and highly entertaining despite the seriousness of the issues it tackles.
Blue/orange is presented by Royal & Derngate Northampton, Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Oxford Playhouse.
It runs at the Ustinov Studio until Saturday, November 13. Call the Theatre Royal Bath box office on 01225 448844 or go online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk.