'Blue/Orange' Young Vic ****

You know what, without exception all places of occupation have a higherachy and those in a positon of power usually bring those lower down no matter if their viewpoint is the legitimate one. The Young Vic’s production of, Joe Penhall’s 2000 play, ‘Blue/Orange’ is an inquisitive feature on mental health and the manipulation of senior doctors to younger ones, conjointly the enactments were spiffing in the main.

‘Blue/Orange’ is set in a psychiatric hospital in London where we’re acquainted with youthful doctor, Bruce and mental health patient, Christopher who are both seeing whether if Christopher can be discharged from the unit, nonetheless, Bruce is rather perturbed by Christopher’s immense erratic behaviour as he makes a considerable amount of strange and elaborate statements. As such; Brue thinks that for the safety of Christopher and the general public that it’ll be beneficial if her remains in the unit until he’s fully well. Notwithstanding, when Bruce’s superior Robert arrives to examine Christopher himself, we can see that the position of power and status is ever so prominent as Robert is immensely Machiavellian and tries to say that Christopher is bushy-tailed which he really isn’t and Bruce is adamant that Christopher needs to stay as he is a danger to the public. Over the course of the performance, the hostility between Bruce and Robert is rife as Bruce is endeavouring to make Robert see that he is not thinking of the welfare of the patient and conjures up an observation where he place an orange onto a table and asks Christopher what the colour of the orange is and form this, Christopher declares that the colour of the orange is blue. Unfortunately, Robert completely dismisses the experiment as Robert is writing a piece of academic research and it appears that he is degrading Bruce’s professional opinion which quite frankly is the more ethical one indeed but Robert is having none of it. As the plot thickens, we see another side to Christopher’s persona when he makes a complaint about Bruce because he made some comments about his skin colour and these claims are ludicrous, additionally, Robert is using his conniving tactics where he convinces Christopher to form a legal accusation against Bruce. However, Christopher’s complaint could lead Bruce to be sacked and his career is over before he can progress, furthermore, Robert has now taken over as Christopher’s consultant. Throughout the show, our allegiances transfer onto Bruce as Christopher is manipulative and Robert is a vile human being of a doctor, then again, when he had a discussion with Bruce we are informed that prior to these altercations that Bruce was desperate for Robert to be his mentor. There’s more angst as Bruce is on the warpath and confidently expresses to Robert that he is no longer going to be bullied by Robert and at the finale there is a final standoff where Bruce says with such force that he is going to make a formal complaint against him and he does not care about the consequences of it. Penhall’s narrative is optimum as we can visible see the abominable things that befall behind the scenes in NHS hospitals; what is more, it was provocative to see how devious some psychiatric patients are in the hope that they can get their own way.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Blue/Orange’ to be unreal as the strained atmosphere has been shown through delectable moments which conveys the good vs evil with regards to the care of NHS doctors. David Haig is brilliant as the calculating senior doctor, Robert; especially how frightening he is by the way in which he schemes against a younger doctor who proves that senior doctors do not necessarily know everything, likewise, he is exceedingly vile with how he communicates with Bruce and this is uncalled for. Luke Norris is alluring as young doctor, Bruce; for example how we can see that he goes through a lot of battles with making a case which his superior disagrees with, also, his character is the only one we can ultimately sympathise with as Robert is utter dimwit of a physician. Daniel Kaluuya is grand as mentally disturbed patient, Christopher; for the most part how his rapidly changing stories of whom his dad is and where he lives means that he is not ready to be a member of society and how he treats Bruce is disgusting as he is not as ill as he makes out and this is disquieting. 

Matthew Xia’s direction is miraculous here as he has been able to stage a revival of a play that really informs you of the reality of NHS hospitals, as well as, some moments of the show reminds me of the phenomenally gripping medical TV series, ‘ER’ where the superiors try to claim all the credit, what's more, the characterisations were so developed and portrayed the characteristics radiantly which is exceptional. Jeremy Herbert’s design is inspirational here as when you enter the Young Vic 

auditorium you walk through the waiting room of the NHS psychiatric unit which for me I didn’t think that would be my first part of the experience so in turn the set really immerses you into the show immediately which is awesome, plus, the flooring and the actual furniture were fully realistic as it reminds you of being in a hospital. Overall, the experience of, ‘Blue/Orange’ was an incalculably satisfying show that makes you think throughout and it’s always interesting to see what the Young Vic is up to next.