Blue/Orange

Nov 7 – Dec 3, 2005
Monday – Friday at 20.00
Saturdag at 17.00

Director Nina Larissa Bassett
Cast: Ian Burns, Tom McEwan and Linford Brown

Played in Krudttønden 2005

Copenhagen Post:
A PSYCHOTIC EPISODE – The play takes place in the consultation rooms of a psychiatric hospital in London where a young, working class black man, Christopher (Linford Brown) is about to be released, following a 28 day spell in the ward where he has been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder What follows is a kind of tug-of-war between two doctors as they battle it out to control Chris’ future. Through the powerful and often darkly humorous dialogue, issues of power, ego, race and the politics of care arise alongside excruciating political correctness and the flailing UK healthcare system. The wily Dr. Smith, is both avuncular and slightly sinister, keen as he is to get his prestigious professorship by publishing a book. Bruce Flaherty initially appears well-intentioned, but he too can be patronising, aggravatingly persistent and highly strung. Christopher also has some agency in this power game; despite his illness, he is quite able to play the two doctors off against each other. Linford Brown does an excellent job at portraying this alternatively vulnerable and volatile person. The set and lighting are simple, evoking the dreary hospital environment well and the intimacy of Krudttønden’s stage sets off the intense and sometimes overwrought dialogue. Blue/Orange’s twists and turns make you constantly revise your opinions of the three characters as they reveal more about themselves through the performance. You may even leave the theatre feeling unsure about how you feel about any of them – which is perhaps the sign of a compelling and complex play.