Left - Renato Musolino. Cover - Renato Musolino & William Zappa. Photos - Shane Reid
There is a thin line between madness and sanity, and who is to define
which side of it any of us are on? Blue/Orange is an excellent and
humourous exposition of this diaphanous dichotomy, of power and
self-interest, of the bureaucratic regulation of human caring, and of
the fact that not all doctors are saints. Meanwhile it is tinged with
overtones of race, political correctness, and value dilemmas, and
echoes of the Cuckoo’s Nest.
It is a fine play, with nicely wrought ebb and flow of tension and
power balance, and this production directed by Adam Cook does it proud
with some excellent acting from its three protagonists, in a convincing
set by Victoria Lamb.
Bruce Flaherty(Renato Musolino) is a young, idealistic, passionate
trainee psychiatrist with immovable commitment to his tunnel-visioned
diagnosis of his patient. Christopher(Robert Jordan) is due to be
released from the mental hospital the next day, having been detained
for lewd public behaviour (with an orange), and whose diagnosis is in
contention. Robert Smith(William Zappa) is the “senior, senior”
consultant, pragmatic yet pompous, who disagrees with the junior
doctor, and ruthlessly wields his power for his own aggrandisement.
All three are convincing and impressive actors, revealing their
characters in almost tangible reality. But the laurel must go to
Robert Jordan for his superb portrayal of a troubled, often sane, often
mad victim of society, of psychiatry, of family and of race. His
beautifully loose and supple movement, characterisation and quick
repartee engender sympathy, understanding and question all at once.
The psychiatric (and perhaps all the medical) profession does not come
off well in this play. This may be stimulated by a personal vendetta
of the playwright, who grew up in the vicinity of Adelaide’s renowned
“looney bin”, discovered disillusionment with doctors and other
professionals, is angered by self interest at the expense of the
helpless, and clearly sees the need for real asylum for victims of
society. But his elucidation of the clash of realities of these three
protagonists raises all sorts of questions, not only about the
differential diagnosis of schizophrenia or borderline personality
disorder, but also about human decency, cooperation, compassion, and
self determination.
Whatever the diagnosis, there is clearly a little madness in the
patient. There is certainly a bit in the doctors, and there is plainly
a lot in society. As Dr Smith points out, humans are “the only beings
with the right to be insane”. And at the end of the play, one is left
with the feeling that the world is nuts, and so perhaps oranges might
be blue.
State Theatre Company of South Australia presents Blue/Orange By Joe Penhall
Venue: Dunstan Playhouse Dates: 4 - 26 July 2008 Bookings:www.bass.net.au
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