1948: The creation of the NHS and the welfare state; a time of joy, optimism, and belief that things were going to get better.
2019: A health service at the point of breaking; demoralised and fighting for survival. What changed? And what happens next?
An Act of Care is a new punk gig theatre piece about Aneurin Bevan, and the National Health Service. From the South Wales coalfield, to American infiltrations in the boardrooms, join us on an epic journey through the past, present, and future of the NHS, as we shout from the rooftops to save what is ours.
An Act of Care started as a project at Salford Lads + Girls Club, talking to people from across generations about what the NHS means to them. It has evolved to be made with people who use and work in the NHS up and down the country. It is a show about where the NHS came from. A show about why it is important to us. And a show about what it is really like to work in the NHS right now; a celebration of the brilliant people that care for us from cradle to grave.
Archipelago is a Manchester based theatre collective that makes work about what it means to be a person living on this small island, and we try and include as many different people from across the country as possible. Our work crosses genres, styles, and art forms, but is united under the banner of new, live, political work that provides a great night out.
“For a ‘work in progress’, this is a solid performance piece… Its breadth is vast and clever as it aims to encapsulate more than 80 years of ‘people’s history’ into an 18-hour hospital shift… At the end, the cast request feedback on how they could improve the piece – my humble advice: ‘Keep up the good work’.” – Quays Life
“Fiercely political… For all of the anger, rage, and frustration, An Act of Care is fundamentally a play about the importance of caring for one another, and more specifically, the importance of caring about caring for one another.” – Mancunion
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