16 Jan A new play by Shey Hargreaves comes to Essex
SICK is a funny, entertaining and at times tragic show about the impact of austerity on the National Health Service. As scriptwriter and performer Shey Hargreaves draws on her real life experience as a receptionist in a busy A&E unit, we find out how government funding cuts have impacted on patients, their families and friends and the staff who care for them.
SICK comes to Colchester Arts Centre on 13 February as part of a UK tour.
Amidst the organised chaos of the emergency department, with queues in the waiting room, phlegm and bodily fluids aplenty and targets to meet, Shey attempts to remain calm and imperturbable. SICK gives us a behind-the-scenes insight into the relationships, protocols, and bureaucracy of the NHS and how it works. We also see glimpses of Shey’s personal life and her own coming-out story, leaving her boyfriend, meeting her wife and becoming a parent.
Littered with well timed jokes and frequently laugh out loud funny, whilst telling tragically sad stories, SICK is a bizarrely charming and entertaining show. A bittersweet study of what makes us human, and a funny and approachable call to political arms told in Hargreaves’ appealing, warm and honest style.
SICK is written and performed by Shey Hargreaves and directed by Molly Naylor.
Shey Hargreaves is a scriptwriter and performer. She studied at the University of East Anglia after which she trained to be a sushi chef before joining the NHS. She runs creative writing workshops and projects for the National Centre for Writing, British Art Show 8 and the Requiem project. SICK is her first autobiographical show.
