Mark Twain said that kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see, and Christie Watson added that the language of kindness is also the language of universal care. In her memoir, published in 2018, she recalls her 20 years as an NHS paediatric nurse, describing the NHS system but also how she dealt with patients and their families. These memories and anecdotes are brought to stage in a stunning celebration of the NHS staff but also as a remarkable piece of theatre that narrates these stories through spoken word and dance. 

Developed over two years and co-produced with Complicité, Warwick Arts Centre and Wayward Productions (in association with Guy Chapman and Arts Council England), The Language of Kindness was presented at Warwick Arts Centre last month, before moving on to the Assembly Hall Theatre at Tunbridge Wells and the show is currently running at Shoreditch Town Hall until 12 June. 

As an ensemble-piece of life adaptation, the audience follows the passage of a debutante nurse; from being shy, confused and eager to please, to a nurse who works with confidence but still struggles among her fellow colleagues. This is revealed through performed stories, relaying the moment she delivers her first baby; when she tried to reassure a child receiving a lumbar puncture; and when she tried to resuscitate a patient. These well-thought out recollections demonstrate the nurse's role as a tireless constant in their patients and their family’s lives. Because what nurse Christie learns is that she knows the medical procedures but needs to learn how to use a whole new language with patients and families, a more instinctive one. And this is more evident during the inconstant and unpredictable shifts, through pleasant and unpleasant aspects of caring for patients, when teamwork is everything but sometimes not enough.

Following the narrative, the piece is depicted in a raw and heartbreaking way, showing that caring never stops and it offers a sharp and accurate reflection of care, love and also what the tragedy of the pandemic has revealed.  Dance plays a central part in the piece as caring for others means putting their own bodies under pressure by repetitive efforts, particularly with the physical nature of the work . Nursing, and being taken care of, are tactile and touching experiences, which is convoked by the cast even if the members of the ensemble aren’t close to one another. As a collective, they execute medical gestures that are captivating.

Directors Sasha Milavic Davies and James Yeatman’s end product is extremely impressive, with scrupulous choreographic movements at different times during the play, which can be seen in every hospital across the country. One particular section is reminiscent of a ballet - through an ingenious neonatal intensive-care memory, showing perfectly timed teamwork - and that precise, quiet atmosphere with frequent medical gestures that are almost hypnotic.

Split into chapters and in a sequence of vignettes, the play is embellished with choreography along with the narration, which evokes a cycle of work that does not seem to know an end. Bringing all of the aspects of the profession, there is also the difficulty in separating their personal and professional lives at work, dramatically noted when a patient comforts his sad and tired nurse; manifesting that the language of kindness functions in both ways and hides in unexpected places. Capturing and transmitting the exhaustion and frustration but also the power of love in caring and the rewarding pride in their work are the talented six-strong cast, comprised of Tina Chiang, Etta Fusi, Rina Fatania, Keziah Joseph, Clive Mendus and Janet Etuk, who interpret the work brightly and vividly and are almost transported by their parts, showing dancing skills along the way. They sometimes also play multiple roles and bring tears, fear and happiness to the audience throughout.  

Accompanied by an energetic setlist, the skilful production features an ingenious design by Zoë Hurwitz, with curtains above polyvalent decor cubicles with accessories at the back of the stage, colourful lighting by Jess Bernberg, and an immersive sound design by Gareth Fry, which includes parts of interviews and words from NHS staff, surely captured by Wayward Productions, who interviewed frontline workers during the pandemic, and supported by video projections designed by Hayley Egan. The Directors have put the ensemble performance at the centre of the play, bringing onstage the highs and lows of life as nurses, and they also celebrate the profession with a moving tribute.

As mentioned in the introduction of the piece, Florence Nightingale is a well-known name and a nurse figure who devoted her life to her work and even if her legacy is still carried today, as we all praise the nurses and the NHS staff for their devoted service, her modern successors struggle to keep body and mind in one piece whilst their profession and sector reveals lack of funding and under appreciated work.

The Language of Kindness brings all aspects of a nurse’s work along with their sacrifices for others to centre stage and as author Christie Watson noted: "Nurses do not have time to give the kindness, care and compassion that people so desperately need, but they find it anyhow. Compassion is the only thing that can save us (...). We will all be nursed at some stage in our lives. We need our nurses." And that message will resonate with audiences watching this production. 

**** Four stars

Reviewed by: Alexia Irene

For more information and to book tickets for The Language of Kindness, please click here.