Blue/Orange - University of Manchester Drama Society In-Fringe Festival

This is a copy of the review I did for my student newspaper.

This award-winning play from Joe Penhall is set in a London psychiatric hospital where an enigmatic patient called Christopher (Ashley Gerlach) is claiming to be the son of an exiled African dictator – a story that becomes unnervingly plausible as the drama unfolds. It draws a stark, powerful picture of NHS psychiatry, with the conflict between the views of young trainee Dr Bruce Flaherty (John Elliott) and senior consultant Dr Robert Smith (Lewis Hayes) highlighting how completely subjective diagnosing someone in this situation can be. However, the naturalistic dialogue and closely observed characters also manage to provoke plenty of laughs, though this often has an uncomfortable edge as what happens to Christopher is no laughing matter.

A spartan set of four chairs, a table, a bowl of oranges and a water dispenser, plus strategically placed piles of breeze blocks, effectively creates the institutional atmosphere and allows the arguments and ideas of the characters to take precedent, with strong performances from all three actors adding to the intensity. Lewis Hayes must be particularly commended, however, for deftly conveying the barely suppressed menace of senior consultant Dr Smith beneath a seemingly affable (yet admittedly sardonic) exterior. Ashley Gerlach also did an excellent job of portraying Christopher’s paranoia and conflicting modes of behaviour; constantly twitching and biting his fingernails one minute and then being calm and rational the next.

As the play progresses we realise that Dr Smith has much more personal reasons for going against Dr Flaherty’s view that Christopher should continue to be sectioned at the hospital, and it is his manipulation of Christopher’s thoughts, and ultimately his mental condition, that leads to Dr Flaherty’s downfall.

This is a play that really makes you think, and you may well find yourself changing viewpoints as the verbal battle between the two psychiatrists is played out. It also raises interesting issues about the intersection of abnormal psychology and racial minority, such as could we just see someone as mentally unstable because we do not understand their background or where they are coming from? If you like to be challenged and to still be pondering the wider issues behind a play well after you have seen it then this is definitely worth the (very cheap) price of entry!

8/10