Grace Hatchell, at the Doctors.
Derry Girls star Kathy Kiera Clarke will appear in Heartsink, a bittersweet medical comedy exploring what happens when a doctor suddenly becomes the patient.
I had quite the curious little note drop into my satchel this week, and it’s the sort that makes you pause mid-delivery and go, now that sounds interesting.
A new play called Heartsink is heading to Riverside Studios from 21 April to 10 May, and it comes with a rather intriguing question at its core: what actually happens when a doctor suddenly finds themselves on the other side of the hospital bed?
Leading the cast is Kathy Kiera Clarke, who many will recognise as the unforgettable Aunt Sarah in Derry Girls. Now Aunt Sarah never struck me as the hospital type unless it involved a dramatic faint and a good story afterwards, but here Clarke is stepping into something far more layered.
She plays Cara, an Irish patient whose hypochondria may not be quite what it seems. The sort of character, I suspect, who might make a doctor sigh quietly into their clipboard… until the truth reveals itself.
The play itself is written by former GP Farine Clarke, which immediately caught my eye. When someone has spent years actually working inside the world they’re writing about, you can bet there’s going to be a bit of honesty tucked between the jokes.
And Heartsink promises exactly that.
The story follows Dr Jeffrey Longford, a confident GP who suddenly receives a cancer diagnosis. One moment he’s the person explaining test results and reassuring patients, and the next he’s the one sitting in the chair waiting to hear what happens next.
As you can imagine, that flips everything upside down.
Suddenly the labels doctors give patients feel rather different when they’re applied to you. The professional distance disappears. And the neat certainties of medicine start to wobble a little.
The title itself is rather clever too.
“Heartsink” was once a term used in medicine for a patient doctors secretly dreaded seeing on the appointment list. The sort who always had another symptom, another worry, another complicated story.
But here, that idea gets turned on its head. The play gently asks whether those labels say more about the system than the people inside it.
Alongside Cara and Jeffrey we meet Suzie, a hospital receptionist whose prickly manner hides a surprisingly philosophical mind, and Dr Roofi, a colleague navigating the complicated lines between duty, loyalty and conscience.
In other words… plenty of personalities for the waiting room.
Kathy Kiera Clarke has spoken warmly about the role, saying Farine Clarke’s writing manages to be sharp, compassionate and genuinely funny even when dealing with some very serious ideas. And that balance is something theatre tends to do beautifully when it gets it right, humour slipping into the cracks of difficult conversations.
Farine Clarke herself describes the play as a story about vulnerability, identity and the strange humour that sometimes appears in the darkest moments.
Which, if you’ve ever sat in a hospital waiting room, will probably ring very true.
The production is directed by Sean Turner, whose past work includes Why I Stuck A Flare Up My Arse For England and The Play That Goes Wrong, so there’s clearly someone at the helm who understands how comedy can dance alongside chaos.
The creative team also includes set designer Matteo Mastrandrea, lighting designer Chuma Lighting Design, sound designer Hattie North, designer Tom Mann, and casting director Ellie Collyer-Bristow Casting.
Full casting will be announced shortly, so I’ll keep my ear to the theatre grapevine and report back when the rest of the company steps forward.
For now though, Heartsink looks like one of those plays that sneaks up on you.
A comedy, yes… but one with a stethoscope pressed firmly to the heart of what it means to care for people, and what happens when the roles quietly reverse.
And that, dear readers, is exactly the sort of delivery I like making.
Straight from the satchel.
Heartsink
Tuesday 21 April – Sunday 10 May
PRESS NIGHT: Friday 24 April @ 6.45pm
VENUE: Studio 3, Riverside Studios, 101 Queen Caroline St, London W6 9BN
BOX OFFICE (PHONE): 020 8237 1000
WEBSITE: https://riversidestudios.co.uk/
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