"Blue/Orange"
Shakespeare & Company, Lenox
Through September 2, 2007
By Donna Bailey-Thompson
Those who determine the summer’s schedule have done it again: they’ve included a gem that is both provocative and entertaining, and then had the audacity to assign a sensitive director (Timothy Douglas) and cast three stellar actors who, seemingly, become the characters. And the other good news is that "Blue/Orange"is playing through September 2.
Presented in the 3/4 round, this engrossing drama takes place within a London psychiatric hospital where a young man, Christopher (LeRoy McClain) prior to his scheduled release the following day is interviewed by his psychiatrist Bruce (Jason Asprey) and the facility’s senior psychiatrist Robert (Malcolm Ingram). Chris is happy, ebullient, "I’m going home!" He springs about the room on the balls of his feet. Bruce sets out to demonstrate that Chris, diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder, is not well enough to be discharged. Robert has a different opinion. What begins as an academic disagreement becomes loaded with personal agenda witnessed, in large part, by the patient who misinterprets what he mis-hears. The younger doctor pushes for a schizophrenia diagnosis and lobbies for treating Chris as an inpatient whereas the older doctor favors sending Chris home "while he still knows what home is" before he becomes more comfortable living within an institution than on the outside. He quotes Allen Ginsberg: "Human is not a noun. It’s a verb."
Strategically placed situational humor provide brief tension breaks within playwright Joe Penhall’s tight script’s dedication to emotionally-loaded issues–-imperfect health professionals within an imperfect health care system trying to bring psychically-damaged patients to a mental health level where they are neither a threat to others nor to themselves. Further complicating this effort are moral and ethical questions that swirl about the effects of race on both medical judgments and patients’ interpretations.
"Blue/Orange" is not a simple entree: it is a theatrical banquet.
Through September 2, 2007
By Donna Bailey-Thompson
Those who determine the summer’s schedule have done it again: they’ve included a gem that is both provocative and entertaining, and then had the audacity to assign a sensitive director (Timothy Douglas) and cast three stellar actors who, seemingly, become the characters. And the other good news is that "Blue/Orange"is playing through September 2.
Presented in the 3/4 round, this engrossing drama takes place within a London psychiatric hospital where a young man, Christopher (LeRoy McClain) prior to his scheduled release the following day is interviewed by his psychiatrist Bruce (Jason Asprey) and the facility’s senior psychiatrist Robert (Malcolm Ingram). Chris is happy, ebullient, "I’m going home!" He springs about the room on the balls of his feet. Bruce sets out to demonstrate that Chris, diagnosed as having borderline personality disorder, is not well enough to be discharged. Robert has a different opinion. What begins as an academic disagreement becomes loaded with personal agenda witnessed, in large part, by the patient who misinterprets what he mis-hears. The younger doctor pushes for a schizophrenia diagnosis and lobbies for treating Chris as an inpatient whereas the older doctor favors sending Chris home "while he still knows what home is" before he becomes more comfortable living within an institution than on the outside. He quotes Allen Ginsberg: "Human is not a noun. It’s a verb."
Strategically placed situational humor provide brief tension breaks within playwright Joe Penhall’s tight script’s dedication to emotionally-loaded issues–-imperfect health professionals within an imperfect health care system trying to bring psychically-damaged patients to a mental health level where they are neither a threat to others nor to themselves. Further complicating this effort are moral and ethical questions that swirl about the effects of race on both medical judgments and patients’ interpretations.
"Blue/Orange" is not a simple entree: it is a theatrical banquet.
Labels: berkshires, blue orange, shakespeare and co, theatre
