Heartsink

Riverside Studios

Difficult topics and highlights the fear of the future for the NHS. Shown in a touching story of strength and the importance of listening.

It’s always a pleasure to watch a show about the field of work I am a part of. This show is all about the idea of assisted death. Whilst it’s shown in a lighthearted way, it’s still heavy, so this is just a trigger warning!

As a healthcare professional myself, the area of work is one I’m not entirely familiar with, and it did educate me! The hospital setting was the most familiar to me, and there were bits I could relate to and parts that felt different/unlike the working environment. But these choices were made for the sake of the story and how it affected the character's journey!

If you had the power to decide whether to live or die when you have a terminal illness, what would you do? How do you even begin to navigate it? Heartsink tries to look at both sides through the vessel of the character Dr Jeffrey Longford, who is exploring this world. Whilst the show has a journey ahead for development, it informs the audience well. It does need more of a look into the reasons why it could be a good idea. It felt heavily against. But it does make the audience think of both sides and sparks a conversation that needs to be had. This is the beauty of theatre and why we need it. To spread messages, start discussions and help add to the momentum of change through stories that ignite our feelings and connect with our real lives. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you want to escape the world out there and see something completely different, but this creates something beautiful out of something real that we can take away with us.

Have you ever heard of a ‘heartsink’ patient? I hadn’t before I watched this show, it’s basically a patient who is a regular at the GP with an array of difficult symptoms that have no specific diagnosis. The idea is that it makes the doctor’s heart sink. This term isn’t used anymore. One contrast I adored was Dr Jeffrey Longford and Dr Roofi, played by Vikash Bhai; it was like a glimpse of the newer doctors within the change of the style of the NHS and the old family style doctors that everyone in the town knew, shown through Dr Jeffrey Longford, played by Aden Gillet. This highlighted the importance of listening and how these labels take away the person that they are all about. The contrast of the two shows also how the NHS are so stretched for time, that there is no space to have these relationships with patients. The one patient in the show, Cara, was played by Kathy Kiera Clarke, and the emotion her character carried was beautiful to watch. Her character has a very heartbreaking story. It would've helped move the story along and open new discussions on the topic by hearing more patient stories to help Dr Jeffery decide on what he was going to choose. The other healthcare professional was Suzie, played by Megan Marzal, and her character had many layers, but her place in the piece feels a little too big, as her character wouldn't have that much time with Jeffrey, due to the nature of her role and some of the things she said were very abrupt. But she did bring a bit of a comic element to the piece and looked into the changes in the NHS, with new technology. It would be great to see more characters closely connected to Jeffrey to help him make his decision. This would also give his character a clearer character arc.

The set design by Matteo Mastrandrea was minimal, but made complete sense and created a healthcare setting well. It almost felt blank to make a statement about how this story can affect many backgrounds and everyone. It worked really well, along with the costume! It clearly showed the role of the characters and complemented each of them. The strong presence of computers reminded the audience of how important technology is in the NHS now and how everything is on there. I really enjoyed the moment where Cara wrote her family recipe for carrot cake on Dr Jeffrey's prescription pad. This symbolised how he needed to think deeper than symptoms and medication, he needed to look further and how medicine isn't the only thing that treats a person. It was almost like her telling him to take a break! There were many symbolic moments like this at the start. It would be great to see more choices like this that have deeper meanings that can be analysed in many ways.

'Heartsink' is a show that needs to be seen, and I look forward to seeing how it develops. I am so passionate about what it is about, and also how it is shown. It's always great to see patient stories and how they can influence your way of thinking; it would be great to see more of that, maybe people Dr Jeffrey meets on his cancer journey and how they change his view on assisted death. It's always great to want more from a show; usually, it's how you want it to be shorter, but Farine Clarke's storytelling is just so well written and easily translated to every audience member from any background. This is a must-see and a must-talk-about after, so make sure you take a friend or two. This show does need a little development, but it's on its way to being something huge and special.

If you can also make it to a day where they have a Q&A, I highly recommend it! It's a moment to learn more and talk about your thoughts on the subject of the show.