Penhall's Latest Dissects Sick NHS, 13 Apr

Joe Penhall's latest play receives its world premiere next month. Blue/Orange, directed by Notting Hill film director Roger Michell, opens at the National's Cottesloe Theatre on 13 April, following previews from 7 April.

Set in a London mental hospital, an enigmatic patient claims to be the son of an exiled African dictator. As the drama unfolds, his story becomes unnervingly plausible. The play, Penhall's first for the RNT, explores race, madness and a Darwinian power struggle at the heart of a dying NHS.

Penhall's previous work includes Some Voices, which won the 1995 John Whiting Award, Pale Horse, winner of the 1995 Thames Television Writer's Award (both for the Royal Court), Love and Understanding (Bush), and The Bullet (Donmar Warehouse).

Director Michell's stage credits include The Homecoming, Under Milk Wood (both for the National) and My Night with Reg (Royal Court and West End). The production is designed by William Dudley with lighting by Rick Fisher. The cast is Chiwetel Ejiofor, Andrew Lincoln and Bill Nighy.

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