The dark comedy play PATIENT: SOLDIER, written by Katherine White and Barra Fitzgibbon, returns to the Bloomsbury Festival for one night only. It is inspired by Fitzgibbon’s experiences as one of the first COVID patients to survive being placed in an induced coma at the start of the pandemic.
But this is no dour drama. Narrated by one ‘Doctor Reaper ‘, this solo play – featuring White – is conducted as a game between the sick and Death itself. Barra, an Irishman in Lewisham, struggles to breathe with a hacking cough as headlines proclaim a killer virus is starting to multiply. As he seeks help from the NHS – his GP, the 111 helpline, and finally the emergency services – the Reaper plots to thwart him at every step.
Daniel Clarkson directs this thoughtful and heartfelt production that asks the big questions about how we navigate the question of life and death. White teases the audience with laconic observations and adds the perspective of other characters – a sympathetic nurse, Barra’s laddish friend Dennis, and Barra’s wife Jen.
It’s only been six years since the COVID pandemic took hold, and our support for those working on the frontline in the NHS has been forgotten. More than 25,000,000 cases were diagnosed, with around 230,000 deaths in the UK alone. Barra was one of those diagnosed early and able to fight his way into recovery.
No wonder his nurses called him ‘Soldier’. Making the pandemic personal is one of the strengths of PATIENT: SOLDIER . The use of humorous elements, however black, also serves it well, although for me the callous attitude of the Reaper stopped me from totally getting inside the story.
White and Fitzgibbon have created a depiction of a fight for life that is raw and uncompromising. It is honest about the overworked staff, the lack of government advice, and the people who lost their lives because of delays and chance. We probably all know someone who wasn’t lucky enough to come out of the virus unscathed and alive.
Other than a desk, a chair, a telephone, and an hourglass that counts down this play’s runtime, there is nothing else to take your attention away from the story. As Barra moves from the ambulance into the ICU, his narrative is taken over by his wife and doctors, to the great frustration of Reaper.
PATIENT: SOLDIER is a play that makes you laugh, makes you think, and packs a significant punch. It also makes a strong point about communication as Barra (a former Channel 4 continuity announcer) is reduced to writing questions on a notepad while intubated.
COVID plays remain necessary to understand how humanity can cope with a crisis and the threat of the Reaper seeking mass conquests.
4 stars.
PATIENT: SOLDIER was at the Bloomsbury Festival on 11 Oct.