A strong new theatre manufacturing is ready to shine a highlight on the lives of NHS nurses, bringing their uncooked and infrequently missed experiences to audiences throughout the UK. Tending, a verbatim play crafted from over 70 interviews performed with frontline nurses over two years, opens at London’s Riverside Studios on fifteenth April, with its press evening following on sixteenth April. Written by El Blackwood and directed by John Livesey, the present weaves collectively the real-life testimonies of nurses into the tales of three characters: a palliative care nurse, a paediatric ICU nurse, and an A&E nurse. By their voices, the play explores why they entered the occupation, what their working days entail, and the emotional extremes they navigate, from the grim realities of unhealthy smells to the tender moments of supporting grieving households.
This manufacturing, offered by Anther Theatre, is greater than a theatrical expertise; it’s a heartfelt tribute to the NHS and an pressing name for reform. The play lays naked the pressures going through nurses, highlighting a system stretched skinny and the toll it takes on those that maintain it. With the NHS lengthy a cornerstone of British life and a perennial political flashpoint, Tending arrives at a crucial second. Latest figures reveal a 43% improve in nurses leaving the occupation inside a decade of registering between 2021 and 2024, in keeping with the Royal Faculty of Nursing. In the meantime, a 2021 examine by the Worldwide Council of Nurses warned that as much as 13 million nurses could possibly be wanted globally to deal with shortages exacerbated by the Covid pandemic and different strains.
Impressed by Blackwood’s greatest good friend, a paediatric nurse, Tending first captivated audiences on the Edinburgh Pageant Fringe final yr, incomes reward for its compassionate and masterful storytelling. Now, the manufacturing embarks on a wider tour, with stops at Theatre Royal Tub on eleventh and twelfth April and The North Wall in Oxford on 1st and 2nd Could, earlier than its London run. Partnering with The Cavell Belief, a charity supporting nurses and midwives, the play amplifies its mission to make sure these very important staff really feel seen and heard.
Anther Theatre, an award-winning firm identified for daring, politically charged work, champions documentary theatre that pulls from real-life narratives. Blackwood, educated on the John Burgess Playwriting Course, and Livesey, a seasoned director with credit from the European Theatre Conference, lead the cost. Their collaboration transforms the nurses’ tales right into a compelling hour-long efficiency, appropriate for these aged 16 and above, that guarantees to impress thought and stir emotion.
Riverside Studios, a cultural hub with a storied historical past of internet hosting groundbreaking artwork, gives an apt residence for Tending’s London premiere. The venue’s legacy of nurturing revolutionary theatre aligns with the play’s ambition to spark change. Because the NHS grapples with restricted assets and monetary woes, Tending asks a poignant query: who will take care of the carers when the system falters? This manufacturing not solely celebrates the resilience of nurses but additionally urges society to confront the cracks in a cherished establishment.
