THEATER REVIEW Mon, May. 01, 2006 Blue/Orange a Promethean experience As Promethean moves into its new home, Broward gets a gem of a debut production. BY CHRISTINE DOLEN Forget, for a moment, all the unsettling news flowing from South Florida playhouses over the past couple of weeks. Broward County theater just got noticeably better with the arrival of The Promethean Theatre, a company that has moved from renting performance space in Miami Lakes to a new home in the cozy Mailman Hollywood Theatre at Nova Southeastern University. To translate for the geographically challenged: You can find Promethean on the second floor of the Mailman Center on Nova's main campus in Davie. Find it you should. Promethean is making a dazzling Broward debut with its production of Blue/Orange, a smart, disturbingly funny piece by British playwright Joe Penhall. The script, which won the 2001 Olivier Award, challenges its three actors with a torrent of words, ideas and shifting moods. And under Margaret M. Ledford's fine, intricate direction, Promethean's trio makes Blue/Orange a brash contender for next year's Carbonell Awards. Penhall's play takes a scathing look at a number of topics: psychiatry, the malleable definitions of madness, Great Britain's own broken healthcare system, racism both subtle and blatant, the dog-eat-dog (or in this case, doc-eat-doc) drive for professional success. The trenchant observations are embedded in the story of Christopher (Sheaun McKinney), a black patient at a London psychiatric hospital. The young man -- who may have borderline personality disorder or schizophrenia, who might be delusional or paranoid or merely eccentric -- becomes a pawn in a game played not too well by his attending doctor, Bruce (Christopher Kauffmann), and Bruce's supervisor Robert (Colin McPhillamy), who executes his own game with the finesse of a grandmaster. The actor playing earnest, dullish Bruce has the toughest task -- no opportunities for fireworks there -- so it's not surprising that Kauffmann is about as colorful as the set's gray walls. McKinney and McPhillamy, however, are blazingly theatrical. McKinney utilizes a symphony of gestures, tics, mimicry, jittery energy and abrupt mood swings to give Christopher a hilarious, dangerous duality. And McPhillamy, who gave two great performances in The Drawer Boy and Hanging Fire at Florida Stage, delivers a third in Blue/Orange. His manipulative shrink is like a master class in great comedic acting. |
THEATER REVIEW May 4 2006 Promethean makes impressive NSU bow Play's story challenges traditional treatment BY JACK ZINK Before the lights went up on the Promethean Theater company's opening of Blue/Orange, co-founder Deborah L. Sherman announced that the troupe signed a deal earlier that day to become Nova Southeastern University's official resident theater company. The school's offer comes at a critical moment in the life of a young, promising and very scrimpy arts group. The troupe was seeking a permanent home after renting a Miami Lakes theater. As the play unfolded over the next two hours on the Nova campus, it became apparent how important that agreement can be to the future of Broward's cultural life. This is a scrappy and entertaining tale with a lively acting turn, an attention-grabbing showcase for the debut in a new space. Joe Penhall's drama is about two London psychiatrists whose battle over the treatment of a patient becomes a struggle over their own careers, and an indictment of sorts against the national health system. Critics in London and New York have jousted over Penhall's script, many kissing it off as an overwrought sociological rant. But the play won the 2001 Olivier Award (England's "Tony") for best new play, and it's just as easy to see that bright side in a production that takes advantage of the show's assets. Score one for the Promethean, whose staging by director, Margaret M. Ledford, uses veteran actor Colin McPhillamy like a first-chair musician in a small ensemble to set the pace, exploiting tension and emotional dynamics. The story rattles hidebound tradition and threatens to upset the complacency of institutions mired in it. Bruce (Christopher Kauffmann) is a young psychiatrist trying to deal with a difficult, outspoken patient. That's Christopher (Sheaun McKinney), a poor black man picked up by police and dropped off for 28 days of observation for "doing something funny" in public. The young doctor diagnoses borderline personality disorder and believes sending the patient back onto the streets will send him over the edge if he's not already there. Enter McPhillamy as Robert, Bruce's consultant and supervisor. Robert believes that keeping the patient in the system is what could turn him into a lunatic. With the stage thus set, McPhillamy charges into the heart of Penhall's drama. The boss threatens the junior psychiatrist and rolls in his own sense of power. Kauffmann and especially McKinney come back with dramatic counteroffensives, but neither is the actor that McPhillamy is, and director Ledford wisely shapes the conflict around his performance. Morgan L. Little's scenic design is spare but effective, suggesting a hospital conference room that's spiffier than most but functions the same as a police interrogation room. Amanda Keator's costumes range from the patient's pastoral hospital PJs and the young doctor's official dress, to the passive/aggressive mentor's sartorial carelessness. Sound is by Nathan Rausch, with lighting by M. Tate Tenorio. The space is a temporary theater of about 75 seats, outfitted very well in the Mailman Hollywood Center. A larger playhouse is being built a block away on the Nova campus as part of a new arts complex. There's much to look forward to. |
Blue/Orange With its production of Joe Penhall's play Blue/Orange, The Promethean Theatre proves that it is a theatre company to be reckoned with. The selection of material, acting, directing and production value equals, if not surpasses, the work of long established and amply funded fellow professional theatres such as The Caldwell and The Florida Stage. Perhaps it is the freshness of this theatre company, now in its second season, that lends such a clarity of vision. Hopefully they have raised the bar enough to encourage other local theatres to concentrate on the quality of their work as aggressively as the advertising and marketing of it. Blue/Orange follows the events in a modern London psychiatric hospital over a twenty-four period. A young man named Christopher has been admitted by the police for unnamed inappropriate public behavior involving an orange in a supermarket. His assigned counselor, Bruce, is a tense but well intentioned man of the same age, newly employed in his position. Among other things, Christopher claims he is the son of African Dictator Idi Amin, and that the oranges in Bruce's office are blue. Bruce wishes to retain Christopher on the grounds that his observations lead him to believe Christopher to be on the borderline between neurotic and psychotic. But Bruce's seasoned and slightly jaded supervisor Robert wishes to release Christopher based on his own observations. If Bruce seems to be reacting in the best interest of the patient, then Robert is reacting in the best interest of the hospital and a dying national health system. The script tackles the issues of semantics and perception. The fact that Christopher is of African decent becomes fodder for discussion of what effect racial and cultural differences play in determining appropriate behavior. Robert and Bruce must assign labels and diagnoses in a system based on psychiatric text book criteria that may or may not include this consideration. What may have begun as a professional difference of opinion between the two men escalates into a struggle for control. The manipulation of semantics and policy become weapons. In the end, Robert emerges the victor, despite Bruce's good intentions and Christopher's mental health. Penhall's writing is bright and crisp. The subject of racial elitism is neatly woven into the story. Director Margaret M. Ledford has found the right cast for this play and armed them with good pacing and clean staging. With never a forced moment, the dialogues all felt like real conversations. The more serious character of Bruce is well played by Christopher Kauffmann; his conflict is clear. Sheaun McKinney has an interesting innocence as Christopher; his character is filled with the slightest of quirks. Colin McPhillamy finds layers of humor in Robert and in this script, with an engaging quality reminiscent of John Cleese. Blue/Orange was first performed on April 7, 2000 at the Cottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre. It moved to the Duchess Theatre in London on April 30, 2001. Before coming to the U.S., it was the winner of Britain's Olivier Award, London's Evening Standard Theatre Award and the London Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play. In 2002 it received its American premiere at the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York City. London-born playwright Joe Penhall, has been called "one of the finest playwrights of his generation" by the Financial Times. Other plays by Penhall include Dumb Show, Love And Understanding, Pale Horse, and The Bullet. He also adapted Ian McEwan's novel Enduring Love for film in 2004, and wrote the screenplay for BBC2's four-part dramatization of Jake Arnott's novel The Long Firm. This production of Blue/Orange, by The Promethean Theatre, appeared from April 28th - May 14th at The Mailman Hollywood Theatre. The Mailman Hollywood Theatre is located at Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Ave., on the 2nd floor of the Mailman Hollywood Center in Davie, FL. The Promethean Theatre is a professional, nonprofit, regional theatre company seeking daring, creative, and original approaches to classical pieces, as well as contemporary and new works, that engage the imagination and inspire passionate discourse among its artists and audience. For more information on the theatre and its season, you may contact them by mail at 4 Northeast 44th St., Miami FL 33137, by phone at 786 317-7580, and by email at theprometheantheatre@yahoo.com. |
British Hit Play Travels Well by Drury lane The Promethean Theatre cements its growing reputation as a showcase for acting and directorial talent with the production of "Blue/Orange" in a new venue in Davie. The work by Joe Penhall comes trailing British awards, as it chronicles the tension between Christopher, a young black psychiatric patient and his interning psychologist Bruce, and between Bruce and his supervisor, Robert. Though conversation-driven, these conversations are matters of life- and-death, or at least of sanity, not the chatter of cocktail-party banter. The older psychologist is the most complex of the roles, and as the drama unfolds we see him more clearly - his maneuvers, his needs, devices, vanity and cruelty. This part is enriched from the first lines by Colin McPhillamy, and he brings to this portrayal such energy, vitality, quickness of comprehension and a remarkable ability to listen, that I would pay to watch him read the telephone book. His body language is the most expressive on the South Florida stage. He would be as superb as the psychiatrist in "Equus", another look at the British medial service, as he is here - I hope a producer reads this. The younger psychologist is played by Christopher Kauffman, a gifted actor whom I’ve had the fortune to see perform well in three previous roles. He captures the intellectual stubbornness of the self-righteous, and can move to desperation and other moods as required. His character displays a posture so erect that he leans backward, a vivid indication of his uptightness. Yet there is relatively little variety in the role as played, and I kept looking for a peek behind the words to let us see the soul. His career documents his versatility and range, but this particular role gives him little chance to display these assets. Sheaun McKinney portrays Christopher, the patient who is borderline in his sanity, and may be released the next day to rejoin the general population. Largely inarticulate and confused in his own mind, McKinney creates a credible human being, not beyond the manipulations of doctors but still resolute in protecting his own shifting identity. As talented as the cast is the director Margaret M. Ledford. The pace is brisk and the physicality on stage invariably interesting. She will direct for The Promethean Theatre Strindberg’s powerful "Miss Julie" this July, and I look forward to seeing her skill at work in this remarkable study of class, sex and seduction. "Blue/Orange" is performed at the Mailman Hollywood Theatre at Nova Southeastern University at 3301 College Avenue in Davie, in the 2d floor auditorium. The space has ample seating but retains the charm of an intimate theatre. The acoustics are not perfect and between British accents, and an occasional lapse into a mumble, some lines are missed, but this does little to dissipate the rich enjoyment of seeing local professional theatre at its best.. Performances are at 8 on Friday and Saturday , and at 2 and 7 on Sunday through May 14. The Promethean Theatre has added to its laurels with this production - enrich your life by seeing it. Reservations and directions at 786-317-7580 or on line at theprometheantheatre@yahoo.com Drury Lane writes frequently on the Arts in South Florida. |
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