2009 Season

Blue/Orange
By Joe Penhall

Directed by Mary Fawcett Watko

With Jim Gallagher, Chris Haley, and Jeff Sprague

Joe Penhall’s Blue/Orange is not so much about mental illness as it is about power.  And ego.  And racial prejudice.  As two psychiatrists – one young and scrupulous, the other older, set on his own agenda and entirely ruthless – square off, the patient becomes the battleground.  Yet Christopher, a young, hip black man in the throes of delusion, is not without his own power and sometimes uses it to control those who are trying to control him.  It’s a wonderful chess game of sorts and the best man may yet win.

Director’s Notes

What an interesting and educational journey Blue/Orange created for us all. Searching for factual information on schizophrenia opened a new world of personal knowledge of this incurable brain disorder.

Many fascinating discussions have taken place preceding our rehearsals – each of us eager to share information that we had discovered during our individual research. We have all worked hard at trying to better understand schizophrenia. We held meetings and received priceless information from people who have firsthand experience and knowledge on the disorder, both professionally and personally. It gave us incredible insight, which in turn gave us a stronger base and a clearer direction in which to portray the story and all three characters of Blue/Orange. We are grateful for sensitive information shared that enlightened us all, and a special thank you for that must go to Colin Lacey, who will be forever in my thoughts, and to Jody Lacey and Mike Drummond.

There are many moments in the play that challenge the quality (or lack of quality) of the National Health System in England. This is a timely subject and one that may speed up your wheels (which may already be in motion) regarding the possible future of a national health system in the United States.

I suspect and hope that our performances will both entertain and inform you and that you will have a new awareness of the facts regarding schizophrenia and how it affects the lives of people like you and me, who also strive to live a normal life.

Thank you for supporting our efforts and desires to share important messages through thought-provoking choices of plays performed in this theatre. Enjoy the hard work of these three wonderfully talented young men who are about to grace the stage of Dignity Players.

Message from the Artistic Director

Dignity Players was created five years ago this month for the express purpose of producing plays and musicals that not only inspire people to do works of social justice, but to promote the inherent self-worth and dignity of all people, regardless of race, creed, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. With this production of Blue/Orange, we humbly add to that list people with disabilities, both physical and mental.  In the character of Christopher, we find a remarkably intelligent young black man who just happens to be afflicted with a debilitating mental illness that is almost invariably misunderstood and misdiagnosed. With this inspiring play and thanks to both this remarkable cast and exceptional director, we hope not only to clear up many of those misconceptions about the people with mental illness and the illness itself, but to honor those same people with a message of hope for a world in which the understanding, care and treatment of people with all forms of mental illness is as much a priority and concern to our government and health care providers as is the treatment of the common cold or new strains of influenza.