Review: NHS THE MUSICAL, Theatre Royal Plymouth

Photo credit: Steve Tanner

During the past 18 months, staying at home, staying apart and seeing our entire lives flipped upside down, we have been reminded of the importance of the National Health Service and have celebrated the workers of our hospitals and medical services as heroes. We have watched our NHS be stretched, challenged, and repeatedly blighted by the pandemic but still, its workers continue to strive to provide the best possible care.

Playing at the Theatre Royal Plymouth, Nick Stimson’s NHS the Musical, with music by Jimmy Jewell and directed by Stephen Fletcher, shines a light on our health service, highlighting the issues that it has faced over the years and that it continues to face going forwards, from bed and staff shortages to privatisation. It is both tongue in cheek and brutally honest as it picks apart these issues in this mostly sung through production, complete with clips of news coverage, snippets of patients’ lives and dance numbers. 

The small cast of seven play multiple parts from patients to politicians to medical staff, with Jordan Castle as the porter playing a sort of narrator role in the piece. We are introduced to three patients; elderly Robert (Neil Stewart), publican Arthur (Jimmy Johnston) and expectant mother Jillian (Alice Frankham) as we follow their experiences with the NHS through a series of scenes and sketches from trips to see their local GP to their time spent in hospital. Peter Caulfield plays a variety of health service staff, alongside Justina Kehinde and Sabrina Aloueche, as the audience are both entertained and educated through this whirlwind look at the innermost workings of the National Health Service.

Although we follow the same three patients throughout the performance, there is no strict storyline as such. The three patients are not connected in anyway and we see them in a series of scenes and musical numbers rather than a complete plot. It works as if we are seeing snapshots of their lives, moments in time in which they use the NHS and their experiences with it at that moment. Whilst this does allow for comedic moments of musical numbers and witty jokes, alongside more hard-hitting moments as we see health workers struggling to meet targets and arguing with politicians who make endless promises to improve things, the lack of a solid storyline does make it feel a little disjointed at time. This probably isn’t helped by the fact that the small cast do play multiple parts as you find yourself having to disconnect slightly from the action to keep up with who is playing who. That being said, the style of this show with its separate scenes and sketches does split the history of the NHS into manageable sections and allows for a good balance between comedy scenes and brutal truths of wait times, targets, patient satisfaction forms and the fight against Covid-19. 

The cast perform with plenty of energy and attention to detail as they bring Michael Taylor’s simple yet effective set to life, using three doorways, a movable staircase, and a series of desks to create GP offices and hospital waiting rooms. Jordan Castle’s narrating porter is both humorous and heartfelt, guiding us from the birth the NHS through to today as Sabrina Aloueche’s politician says the right things but makes empty promises, a reality all to true to many working in the health service today. Justina Kehinde’s NHS Manager is stressed and overworked, burdened by budget cuts, staff shortages and overcrowded hospitals, whilst Peter Caulfield’s GP highlights the issues faced with waiting lists, hard to get appointments, hospital referrals and trying to do the best that they can under difficult circumstances. As patients Robert, Arthur and Gillian, Neil Stewart, Jimmy Johnston and Alice Frankham represent three patients experiencing the NHS firsthand, having to wait long times to be seen and witnessing the over stretched services battling to reach targets whilst being incredibly thankful for the care that they receive. 

The songs are a good blend of high energy dance numbers and powerful moments but aren’t massively memorable. We didn’t leave the theatre humming a tune but the numbers were enjoyable, nonetheless. Some of the songs feature many a medical term along with many statistics which sometimes get lost in the music that, at times, did overpower the singing, especially in the first act. Occasionally it is a little hard to follow the words as different characters list off medical terminology and rattle through their hurried day to day lives working in the health service. The most touching moment in the musical numbers comes when the cast are joined by members of the NHS Community Choir. 

NHS the Musical is a whirlwind tour through the ins and outs of the National Health Service seen both through the eyes of its workers and its patients. It both highlights how wonderful it is that we have such a service catering for our medical needs, reminding us just how thankful we should be for it, and makes it painfully clear just how many issues that the Health Service is currently facing. It isn’t afraid to bombard the audience with facts, figures and brutal truths whilst also making us laugh, throwing in jokes about the government throughout.

Overall, it is an important lesson in how we should never take the NHS for granted ever again and how we can only continue to benefit from it if we are willing to fight for it.

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Rebecca Wallis

NHS the Musical plays at the Theatre Royal Plymouth until 25 September. To book tickets, please click here.