First-year Theatre, Acting and Performance students at the University of Worcester staged a powerful community theatre performance, drawing directly on the lived experiences of former nurses from Worcester Royal Infirmary.
The performance, titled Nursing Stories, was devised as part of the students’ Community Theatre module. At the beginning of February, members of the Worcester Royal Infirmary Nurses’ League were invited to the University to share personal accounts of hospital life and nursing practice in Worcester. Five members of the League were interviewed by students, who then worked collaboratively to devise and script a performance based on these conversations.
Earlier this week, members of the Nurses’ League returned to the University to watch the final performance. The audience responded warmly, praising the sensitivity and care with which their stories and experiences had been represented on stage.
Maxine Chong, Chair of Worcester Royal Infirmary Nurses’ League, said: “The performance was extremely accurate and captured the essence of nursing across the various time periods. The students should be commended. This powerful and emotive performance should be utilised as a learning tool and re-presented to all health practitioners. The themes are as relevant in contemporary practise as in the past.”
The students said that performing in front of the nurses who had inspired the work made the experience particularly meaningful.
Jordan Dorsett said: “We wanted to do their stories justice, so performing in front of the nurses was really special for us.”
“It was quite nerve-wracking performing in front of the nurses, but it was great to work on this and to hear their stories,” added Marie Perndoka.
Ensuring the stories were treated with respect and authenticity was a key focus throughout the project.
Alfie Price said: “It was really important to us that we approached their stories with sensitivity and respect, and it was good to hear their feedback afterwards to say that we had done that. It was really impactful working on this project.”