BLUE/ORANGE. To 27 May.
Bolton
BLUE/ORANGE
by Joe Penhall
Octagon Theatre To 27 May 2006
Mon-Sat 7.30pm Mat 20, 24 May 2pm
Audio-described 24 May 7.30pm
BSL Signed 25 May
Post-show Discussion 9 May
Runs 2hr 40min One interval
TICKETS: 01204 520661
www.octagonbolton.co.uk
Review: Timothy Ramsden 6 May
Powerful production of a fascinating, flawed play.
One simple set, 3 actors, the tension of a court-room drama without the need for a court-room, and a socially significant issue: Joe Penhall’s play has a lot going for it. It’s something of a medical Oleanna. Iin Mamet’s play a university lecturer’s life is wrecked by a female student’s allegations; here aspirant psychology medic Bruce comes professionally unstuck because of his comments to a Black patient.
Neither play’s career-victim is entirely sympathetic. Both behave unwisely, but Bruce’s antagonist isn’t really Christopher, who (inasmuch as he knows what he wants) just asks to be released from the institution where he’s been sectioned so he can go home.
He’s an innocent, even when on the attack, moving from being subject of the doctors’ concern to the object in an argument. where their careers are at stake. In Mark Babych’s dynamic production, Bruce and his senior, the arrogant Robert, end up squabbling across Christopher. The most balanced person would end up disorientated with such a fierce argument raging at close-quarters across their earholes.
Babych’s production doesn’t have the precision of Kathy Burke’s, which toured out of Sheffield last year. That probably made the play seem better than it is. It’s hard to pin-down the problem. Doctors doubtless can rage like this (or would if they didn’t face real-life consequences). Arrogance and careerism exist. But, somehow, Penhall’s stripped-down style gives events a concentration which leaves an uneasy sense of improbability. The 24-hour rush of the action creates a kind of High Noon tension that misses out the complexities attending such a situation.
Christopher is the most convincing character (and the only sympathetic one). Daniel Poyser makes a consistent character out of inconsistent behaviour, detailing the mood changes: eagerness to please, aggression picked up from those around, keenness to explain the biography he’s create for himself from media influences. Justin Brett’s Bruce has a mix of assertion and submission to authority, Stuart Fox’s Robert a self-dramatising callousness to all but himself; he’s always on show, making an impression. Technically fine, it’s never less than energetic and gripping. But not, ultimately, convincing.
Bruce: Justin Brett
Robert: Stuart Fox
Christopher: Daniel Poyser
Director: Mark Babych
Designer: Hannah Clark
Lighting: Jason Osterman
Sound/Composer: Andy Smith
2006-05-08 15:40:48