(Dominic Cavendish’s article appeared in the Telegraph, 5/20.)
Dominic Cavendish applauds this first-rate revival of a taut, funny-perturbing look at the contentious subject of modern mental health-care
Hands up anyone who has ever felt they were going a bit crazy. Whether driven mad by grief, rejection, work or any of the other thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, we’re none of us – I dare suggest – so very far from needing to spend some time down on the funny farm. What we hope, though, is that if we end up in the care of professionals, we’ll be considerately looked after, correctly assessed.
The Kafka-esque provocation of Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange – his taut, funny-perturbing three-hander, much revived since its National premiere in 2000 – is that it’s possible you may leave (if you’re allowed to) the hands of the men in white coats more damaged than when you went in; and if you’re young, male and black, the odds of that happening are going to increase, dramatically.