Christopher is going to be let out. After a psychotic episode in a market place he has been detained in a mental institution under Section 2. Today is the last day he can be held against his will, he must be freed or detained further because of the severity of his illness.
When we first see him with his finger twitching, foot tapping and eyes bulging, Andre Bullock gives a masterful performance as the patient who is only just in control. Christopher is large, shouty and inappropriate, he repeatedly crosses boundaries with the young doctor who interviews him played by Muireann Gallen. While never actively threatening, Christopher acts as if he could be dangerous. He is not the man you want living next door, but is he mad?
Well, borderline personality disorder is a vague diagnosis – which side of the borderline is he on? If he is mad, he had better stay in the institution, which is not what he wants.
Enter the consultant who wants to clear the bed or they will end up with a hospital full of long-term mental patients. ‘We have no beds and a patient who has no need for a bed’ he tells his junior colleague, she should set aside her qualms about the diagnostic criteria and just let Christopher go.
Ciaran Corsar delights as the supercilious consultant only too keen to quote official guidelines of they serve his purpose but ignore them if they don’t. His condescension and wit at the expense of the junior doctor both amuses and repels.
The twist comes when the consultant realises what’s in it for him. Christopher’s illness might give him the research lead he needs for his breakthrough theory. He is looking for nothing less than a cure for black psychosis, he is after the professorship, the knighthood, appearances on Radio 4…Maybe Christopher should stay as a patient after all.
A delicious sub-routine in this play is the language used. Is the culture being referenced for Christopher Afro-Caribbean when we know he is of African descent? Is it African when he has never been to Africa? He ’comes from’ West London.  Black, therefore? He says he is being characterised as an ‘uppity n—–‘.
This play, reversioned by the author Joe Penhall, is as fresh as it was when it was first performed more than 25 years age. Along with the sharp characterisation of the doctors and patient and the complications of race, the play is also a satire on the Kafkaesque NHS complaints procedure; the manipulations of care; ever-flexible diagnostic procedures and the pernicious effect of spending restraints on medical decisions.
OSO in Barnes has a policy of staging well-acted, intellectually challenging plays with a strong cast like this one. Long may they continue to do so.
Playwright: Joe Penhall
Director: Lydia Sax
Cast: Andre Bullock, Muireann Gallen, Ciaran Corsar
Duration: two hours with a 15 minute interval
Until: 10 May 2026