Blue/Orange
| Blue/Orange | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Joe Penhall |
| Date premiered | April 2000 |
| Place premiered |
Cottesloe Theatre London |
| Original language | English |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Setting | a London psychiatric hospital |
Blue/Orange is a play written by English dramatist, Joe Penhall. A sardonically comic piece which touches on race, mental illness, and 21st century British life, it premiered at the Cottesloe Theatre in April 2000, starring Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln and Chiwetel Ejiofor. It went to London's West End in 2001.
In 2008, Plain Clothes Theatre Productions toured the show around the South-West. Venues included the Tobacco Factory, Bristol; Cheltenham Everyman and the Rondo Theatre, Bath.
Recently Brighton Theatre Royal Productions announced a production starring Robert Bathurst, Gerard McCarthy & Oliver Wilson that will tour the UK before a limited West End run.
Synopsis
Blurb of the Published edition:
In a London psychiatric hospital, an enigmatic patient claims to be the son of an African dictator-a story that becomes unnervingly plausible. BLUE/ORANGE is an incendiary tale of race, madness and a Darwinian power struggle at the heart of a dying National Health Service. [1]
(The blurb is not entirely accurate: the play does not situate itself in the NHS, and the patient's stories never appear to be very plausible, but this blurb serves as a good guide nonetheless for those curious.)
Film adaption
In 2005, the play was adapted for a television film directed by Howard Davies for BBC with stars, Brian Cox, John Simm and Shaun Parkes. [2]
Awards and nominations
- Awards
- 2000 Evening Standard Award
- 2000 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award
- 2001 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
Notes
References
- Joe Penhall (2001). blue/orange. methuen drama.
- Albert Foss (8 August 2006). "BBC Four Drama - Blue/Orange". BBC Four. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
Further reading
- Penhall, Joe (2000). Blue/Orange (First ed.). London: Methuen Drama. ISBN 0-413-75270-4.
External links
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