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Blue/Orange and By Order of Ignorance

Published Friday 13 November 2009 at 11:30 by Barbara Lewis

A cure for schizophrenia would be a boon for its sufferers and for society. But the real winner would be the consultant who discovers it purely to advance his career, if this take on a failing health system that kicks off a cynical double bill is to be believed.

Under David Hutchinson’s direction, it begins well as Peter Muruako as the patient Christopher bursts on to the stage for restlessly energetic confrontations with the idealistic young registrar Bruce (Tarl Caple).

The mood darkens, humour disperses and the plot become more incredible with the arrival of Pete Collis, the Machiavellian consultant Robert, who wouldn’t dream of allowing a patient’s inability to see an orange as orange, not blue to stand in the way of a recklessly experimental discharge into the community.

After such a bleak vision, we crave some kind of positive message.

Instead, the second play, By Order of Ignorance, directed by the writer Robert Gilbert, is less artistically satisfying and leaves us weighing a barren choice between a decadent West and its extremist foes.

Its best achievement is Hutchinson’s switch from director of the first play to a poignant portrayal of Mo, a suicide bomber who struggles to pull the trigger.

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