BLUE / ORANGE starring Giles Terera and Michael Balogun takes to the stage this winter

Royal & Derngate Northampton, Theatre Royal Bath Productions, and Oxford Playhouse present the multi-award-winning drama Blue/Orange.

The production opens at Theatre Royal Bath’s Ustinov Studio from the 29th October to the 13th of November 2021, before dates at Oxford Playhouse from the 16th November to the 20th November 2021 and Royal & Derngate, Northampton from November 23rd to December 4th, 2021.

Twenty years after Joe Penhall’s ground-breaking Blue/Orange premiered, he collaborates with co-creators Giles Terera, Michael Balogun and Royal & Derngate’s Artistic Director James Dacre on a brand new production shining new light upon this incendiary interrogation of power and privilege in modern Britain. The play won the Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard awards for Best New Play in 2001.

“I vividly remember how fired up and moved I was watching Joe Penhall’s extraordinary play when it premiered. I believe the play can speak to us just as much, if not more so now as it did then. Getting to explore its themes of identity, mental health, race and a power struggle at the heart of the NHS alongside Michael Balogun is something I’m very excited about” – Giles Terera

In a London psychiatric hospital, a mysterious patient wants out. The problem is that, to him, oranges are bright blue and Muhammed Ali is a whole lot more than just a boxer.

As his doctor and senior consultant debate whether to section or release him, an extraordinary new claim causes them to become more and more divided in their diagnosis. Their power struggle escalates into a startling and provocative exploration of power and privilege, revealing uncomfortable truths about all three men.

Blue/Orange dates

29 October to 13 November 2021
Theatre Royal Bath
Box Office: 01225 448844
theatreroyal.org.uk

16 November to 20 November 2021
Oxford Playhouse
Box Office: 01865 305305
www.oxfordplayhouse.com

23 November to 4 December 2021
Royal & Derngate, Northampton
Box office: 01604 624811
www.royalandderngate.co.uk