Renowned theatre company Out of Joint puts the N.H.S. front and centre in their latest play as they bring Stella Feehily’s This May Hurt a Bit to Liverpool. Featuring national treasure Stephanie Cole, the critically acclaimed hit will be putting the patient and the institution under the microscope from Wednesday 7th to Saturday 10th May.
A month after stating, “We will stop the top-down reorganisation of the N.H.S. that has got in the way of patient care”, the government launched the biggest top-down reorganisation the service had seen in its 65-year history. With wit, tenderness, and splashes of the surreal, Stella Feehily’s new play follows one family’s journey through the digestive system of the NHS, and asks: what’s the prognosis?
Stephanie Cole is one of the country’s most cherished actresses, with a long career on stage, television, radio and film. She is best known for her television work, including the recent Christmas special Still Open All Hours (B.B.C.), as Sylvia Goodwin in Coronation Street (I.T.V.), Diana Trent in the classic comedy series Waiting for God (B.B.C.), Dr. Beatrice Mason in Tenko (B.B.C.) and as Carolyn Knapp-Shappey in the smash hit radio comedy Cabin Pressure.
The production is directed by Out of Joint Artistic Director Max Stafford-Clark, whose experience of a major stroke in 2006, plus years of subsequent treatment, prompted playwright Stella Feehily, who is Max’s wife, to research and write the play.
The cast also includes Jane Wymark (Poldark, B.B.C).; Midsomer Murders, I.T.V.), Tristram Wymark (Phedre, National Theatre), Brian Protheroe (Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Octagon Theatre Bolton), Frances Ashman (People, National Theatre), and Natalie Klamar (All’s Well That Ends Well, R.S.C.).
Tickets for This May Hurt A Bit are on sale from the Playhouse Theatre Box office, by telephone on 0151 7094776 or by e-mail on www.everymanplayhouse.com. Tickets are priced at £10-£23. There are two matinees for audiences, Thursday 8th May at 1.30 and Saturday 10th May at 2pm.