Blue On Blue at Tristan Bates Theatre from 19 April

The Skullcap Collective presents Blue On Blue, a dark comedy by Chips Hardy, at the Tristan Bates Theatre in central London, from 19 April to 14 May 2016, with an official opening on 21 April.

The production is directed by Harry Burton, with set design by Emmet De Monterey. Cast includes Darren Swift (Moss), Daniel Gentely (Carver), Ida Bonnast (Marta). Darren Swift is a British Army veteran and lost both his legs in combat in Northern Ireland.

Synopsis: "Badly wounded in action by friendly fire, army veteran Moss lives in a small flat with his highlystrung 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 that Blue On Blue is a military term for what the media describe as 'friendly fire'. He goes on to say, "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."