BLUE/ORANGE @ the Arcola

When walking into the Arcola Theatre, I had no idea what I was about to get myself into. For all I knew, the performance had something to do with Africa… but I never expected that I was about to witness such a psychotic and emotionally disturbing drama.

As crazy as it was, I actually enjoyed the first half of the performance. It took me a few minutes to comprehend the setting and storyline, but I soon realized that I was watching a mentally troubled patient and her extremely involved doctor within a mental institution.

 I have always been very interested in psychology, which allowed me to become intently focused on the long, drawn out dialogue. The entire first half, especially after the supervisor stepped into the room, I continued to evaluate and reevaluate the situation, trying to determine if Juliette was in fact mentally ill.

At first, it seemed to me that the supervisor was overlooking the mental conditions of the patient and instead operating in her own self interest. She was clearly in a hurry of getting the patient out of the institution as she continued to address the issue of the deficient number of beds. She also seemed to be concerned about how she would be viewed if she were to support the younger doctor’s decision to keep the patient. At this point in the play, I was in support of the younger doctor’s decision and felt as though there were clear signs that the patient needing additional treatment.

However, as the second half of the performance progressed, my perception of the situation was completely altered. The young doctor became too emotionally involved and consequently, began losing her own mind. She was quick to aggressively express her opinions on the matter of keeping the patient for an extended period of time, which led her to violent outrages and unprofessional discussions. Although I continued to believe that the patient was mentally ill and needed further treatment, the young doctor began acting in such a way that deterred my original perception of her as being a professionally concerned doctor to an emotionally crazed and strung out individual.

It was interesting how the performance continued to change my view about the characters. At times, I felt as though the young female doctor was fighting for what she truly believed in and other times I felt as though she was the one who deserved to be a patient in the institution.

Clearly, the overarching themes of institutional politics, race, and mental health were conveyed by showing the corruption of the mental institution, the doctor’s theory about “black psychosis”, and by showing that all people, including doctors, are dysfunctional and “psychotic” in one way or another.

However, as the second half of the film began to focus more on the relationship between the two doctors and less about the state of illness of the patient, the less I enjoyed and respected the performance. Don’t get me wrong, the acting was great and the theatre provided an intimate setting to watch this emotional drama unfold. However, I was surprised and a bit turned off by the ending, hoping instead that they would have concluded with addressing the patient rather than the dysfunctional relationship between the doctors.

Billy Hahn
UCSB