Chips Hardy's BLUE ON BLUE to Play Tristan Bates Theatre This Spring

You can't go crippling yourself in a caring society. They won't stand for it.

BLUE ON BLUE is a visceral, poignant and darkly funny play by novelist and screenwriter Chips Hardy, directed by Harry Burton. The production will play the Tristan Bates Theatre (1a Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP) Tuesday 19th April to Saturday 14th May 2016. Press Night: Thursday 21st April, 7.30pm.

This witty and moving drama examines the subtleties and vagaries of self-harm and co-dependency. It tackles important questions that are all too easily shied after from, relating not least to the rehabilitation of ex-servicemen and ex-offenders.

Badly wounded in action by friendly fire, army veteran Moss lives in a small flat with his highly- strung nephew Carver. When Marta, a young Eastern European carer, enters their tiny world the results are as disruptive as they are well-intentioned.

Writer Chips Hardy comments, "BLUE ON BLUE is a military term for what the media describe as 'friendly fire'. Being hurt by friends is a desperate inversion of normalcy. Hurting ourselves, whether through delusion or other addictive behaviour, occasions a similar blend of denial and perseverance. The play investigates some of the difficulties surrounding the re-integration of wounded servicemen, and the rehabilitation of severe compulsives. These inconveniently vulnerable types are marginalised in mainstream society. Yet within their ranks an
astonishing humour habitually combines with a robust insistence on eccentric self-sufficiency. Consequently the play has evolved as a dark comedy."

The cast is led by British Army veteran Darren Swift who lost both his legs in combat in Northern Ireland. Alongside him are Daniel Gentely and Ida Bonnast.

BLUE ON BLUE is supported by leading charity BLESMA and The Unity Theatre Trust. There will be post-show discussions with the charities Blesma and Harmless.

This powerful and insightful play is produced by London-based company The Skullcap Collective.

IF YOU GO:

BLUE ON BLUE

Tuesday 19th April - Saturday 14th May 2016
Tuesday to Sunday, 7.30pm
Sunday matinees, 3pm

Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ages 16 plus

At Tristan Bates Theatre, 1a Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP

Tickets are available priced £14 (£12 concessions) Previews priced £10

Available from Tristan Bates Theatre Box Office and www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk or 020 3841 6611 or boxoffice@tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

Tristan Bates Theatre is located in the Actors Centre on Tower Street. The nearest underground stations are Leicester Square (on the Northern and Piccadilly lines) and Tottenham Court Road (on the Northern and Central lines). The nearest rail station is Charing Cross.

Chips Hardy went up to Cambridge, as an English Scholar and threw himself into The Very Modern Novel, Situationism and other more established University theatricals. 38 years later, he is a Global Creative Director in advertising. He has written for television, film, theatre, novels and stand-up material. This has produced - amongst other things - a TV drama series called Gentlemen and Players, a children's series with a talking chair called Helping Henry, television drama with Maureen Lipman and a British Comedy Award for work with Dave Allen. After many film commissions, a screenplay Acts Of Charity is circling Hollywood in a contractual fashion. He is currently consulting and writing on the upcoming BBC1 and FX drama series Taboo, with his son Tom, and other productions are in development through Hardy, Son and Baker. His novel Each Day A Small Victory was published in 2007 in the form of frontline despatches from amongst the wildlife in an English country lay-by. His one-woman dysfunctional Cabaret There's Something in The Fridge that Wants To Kill Me! ran at the Edinburgh Festival. Currently The Captive Ballerina, a musical play is in development with Simon Bass and others.

Harry Burton initially trained as an actor at the Central School, then as a director with BBC Television. He has acted and directed in theatre, television, film and radio for thirty years. Directing credits include: Harold Pinter's The Lover (Bridewell); The Room (Royal Court) & The Dumb Waiter (West End); Quartermaine's Terms (Kenwright Tour); I Found My Horn (Chichester & Trafalgar Studios); Where I Come From (first African-American play ever staged at the Kentucky Rep); The Leisure Society (Trafalgar Studios); What The Butler Saw (Associate Director, Vaudeville); Casualties (Park Theatre); Barking In Essex (Wyndham's); The God Of Carnage (Copenhagen); Parzival (Sharpham House, Arts Council UK); Positive (Park Theatre). TV/FILM: Working With Pinter (documentary about Harold Pinter, Channel 4); Thinspiration (drama for Channel 4); A Thousand Years Of Joy (as co-producer - feature documentary about American poet, Robert Bly). RADIO: Ashes To Ashes by Harold Pinter (with Dame Harriet Walter, 2015 BBC Radio 3).

Blesma, The Limbless Veterans is the national charity for all limbless serving and ex-service men and women, their widows and dependants. It is a membership organisation which helps wounded service men and women rebuild their lives by providing rehabilitation activities and welfare support. Their membership includes those who have lost the use of a limb, an eye or the sight of an eye. Blesma was formed in the years following the First World War and became a national charity in 1932. Blesma today has around 3,500 Members and widows. The membership consists of men and women who have served during the Second World War and the many subsequent conflicts and peacekeeping operations since, including the Falklands, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. For more information, go to www.blesma.org.

Harmless is a user-led organisation that provides a range of services about self-harm including support, information, training and consultancy to people who self-harm, their friends and families and professionals. Harmless was set up by people who understand self-harm and at the heart of our service is a real sense of hope. They know that with the right support and help life can get better.

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