Grace Under Pressure

Theatre

BY DAVID WILLIAMS AND PAUL DWYER
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE SYDNEY ARTS & HEALTH COLLECTIVE

We need to care for them. Beautifully staged this is a truly unique theatre experience.

Health professionals are with us when we’re born, and they’re with us when we die. They devote their lives to caring for us, but how do we care for them? Can a doctor or nurse give a patient the best possible care if he or she hasn’t slept for days? What if they are also being bullied or sexually harassed at work? What if they complain about having to work excessive hours but are told to stop whinging and suck it up? How do they cope with the pressure?

Based on hours of in-depth interviews with doctors and nurses about their experiences of training and working in hospitals, Grace Under Pressure is a surprising, intimate, and deeply moving theatre experience that reveals these hidden stories of health professionals in their own words.

Ranging from wildly funny to utterly heartbreaking, the stories within Grace Under Pressure will leave no audience member unaffected. Beautifully staged and disarmingly performed, Grace Under Pressure is a truly unique theatre experience.

Tickets are $27 – $57 from venue website.

Writers: David Williams & Paul Dwyer

Sydney Arts & Health Collective: Dr Claire Hooker, Assoc. Prof. Louise Nash, Dr Karen Scott, Dr Kimberley Ivory, Dr Jo River, Prof. Paul Macneill and Mr James Dalton
Director: David Williams
Dramaturg: Paul Dwyer
Lighting Design: Nicholas Higgins
Sound Design: Gail Priest
Set & Costume Design: Isabel Hudson.
Producer: Suzie Franke
Company Stage Manager: Maureen Thomas
Touring Technician: Glenn Parry
Associate Producer: Bec McGuinness
Set Construction: Thomas Creative
Tour Freight: Gypsy Entertainment

Grace Under Pressure was co-commissioned by Seymour Centre and The Big Anxiety, and developed with the support of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Sydney. The Big Anxiety has been assisted by the Australian government through the Department of Communication and the Arts’ Catalyst—Australian Arts and Culture Fund. The 2021 tour of Grace Under Pressure has been assisted by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.

EARLY BIRD available until 10 May 2021
RUNNING TIME: 85 minutes no interval
AUDIENCE ADVICE: Coarse language, ages 14+. Challenging content. Includes descriptions of sexual harassment in the workplace, a description of a suicide attempt, and descriptions of surgical procedures.

Liked it? Take a second to support BMA Magazine on Patreon!