Sunday 20 April 2014

This May Hurt A Bit @ The Traverse 2014



This May Hurt A Bit feels almost old fashioned in its insistence on a political message. Harking back to the rougher edges of 1980s' agit-prop (it even has complaints about Margaret Thatcher), it repeatedly, and precisely, skewers the Conservative attack on the NHS. Through the story of one family coping with the ailments of age - and interrupted by factual or forthright sketches - it condemns the attempts of the government to sell off the NHS into an American style free market profit grab.
As crassly as the cliche I am about to use, This May Hurt pulls no punches. When Death, in his classic outfit, blames the Tories for killing the NHS, Feeney is in no mood for compromise. The main story, featuring a mother and son, various illnesses, harassed staff and an American extolling his system, is little more than a hook for meditations on PFI - a truly disgusting and stupid idea, which has effectively put future generations in hock for the sake of a few new buildings - management restructuring and and the stand-off between Bevan and Churchill.
This last battle echoes down the corridors of time - they stalk the present day, with Churchill half defending, half excusing David Cameron's strategies. While the parodies of management speak, and the formal agons around the value of health care are taut and precise, it is the scream of the nurse that captures the spirit of the script. Frustration, disappointment and a desperate urge to save what is good are summed up in a single syllable. Fuck.
This May Hurt is propaganda, and provokes anger. It is the righteous anger of the elderly, seeing their gains lost, their faith shattered and their health held to ransom. It affirms a belief in the worth of theatre as a political activity, evangelising for the consensus politics and kindness that made British healthcare the pride of that silly Olympic opening ceremony. A quiet note of optimism may end the play, but the violence of Cameron's Acts, as described, threaten no happy ending for an entire nation.





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