Blue/Orange
by Joe Penhall
Royal & Derngate, Bath Theatre Royal and Oxford Playhouse (2021)
In a London psychiatric hospital, a mysterious patient wants out. The problem is that, to him, oranges are bright blue and Muhammed Ali is a whole lot more than just a boxer.
Twenty years after Joe Penhall’s (Mindhunter, The Road) ground-breaking Blue/Orange premiered, he collaborated with Giles Terera (winner of the 2018 Olivier Award for Hamilton), Michael Balogun (Death Of England, National Theatre) and Director James Dacre on a brand new production shining new light upon this incendiary interrogation of power and privilege in modern Britain. The play won the Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard awards for Best New Play in 2001.
Director: James Dacre
Associate Director: Francesca Murray-Fuentes
Designer: Simon Kenny
Lighting: Charles Balfour
Composer: Valgeir Sigurdsson
Sound: Tony Gayle
Associate Designer: Ruth Hall
Associate Sound: Bella Kear
Movement: Diane Alison-Mitchell
Drama Therapist: Wabriya King
Voice & Dialect: Hazel Holder
Fights: R.C.Annie
Casting: Ginny Schiller
Production Photographs: Marc Brenner
Cast
Giles Terera
Michael Balogun
Ralph Davis
★★★★★ “One of the finest plays of our time gets an urgent, riveting revival… Director James Dacre’s inspired adaptation brings this modern classic bang up to date” The Daily Telegraph
★★★★ “A brilliant, blistering moral workout” The Financial Times
★★★★ “Joe Penhall’s blazing, blistering Blue/Orange is a powerful pill to take” The Daily Mail
★★★★ “Giles Terera gives an acting masterclass… an outstanding performance… He is an actor who completely embodies a character with real grace and ease.” The Stage
★★★★ “Michael Balogun gives a hypnotic portrayal in James Dacre’s thought provoking revival” The Times
★★★★★ “The drama’s rhythm sometimes feels like a thriller … this is lean-forward, thoroughly engrossing theatre. James Dacre’s pared-back, hands-off production allows the superb actors to shine” The Daily Telegraph
★★★★ “Joe Penhall’s topical masterpiece feels as critically relevant as ever” WhatsOnStage
★★★★★ “The play is flawless, holding the audience breathless and motionless throughout and battered emotionally by the end… an essential piece of theatre that needs to be seen.” The Bath Echo