A drug addict in withdrawal, an insufferable out-of-touch middle-class woman with a Gail’s sandwich, a prisoner, and a man with a mystery illness find themselves in the waiting room of A&E. As they face long wait times and a robotic receptionist who promises “he’s in the queue,” tensions rise.
Satire illuminates the struggles of the overworked NHS – drawing attention to its abusers and victims – in this hilariously gripping, darkly comedic 60-minute play.
On stage, a man sits silently slumped over in pain, a receptionist types monotonously on her keyboard, and a woman enters with little more than a sandwich and the fantasy of being treated in twenty minutes.
Her entitlement shows when she tries to cut the queue, attempting to win the receptionist over with the language of heroics. If we were to find this woman in the real world, I haven’t a doubt she would be one of the many boasting about her weekly NHS claps during Covid and the work of “unsung heroes,” all whilst voting for a political party ignoring issues of underfunding.
This façade of morality prevails as she obnoxiously repeats on the phone that she sustained her life-threatening finger injury (about the size of a paper cut) by volunteering at a soup kitchen.
A hilarious juxtaposition is drawn when Evie — an agitated, blunt, drug-addict appearing on the brink of some sort of psychotic episode — enters the room. As she unapologetically asks for the woman’s sandwich, calls every other person in the room a bitch, and makes friends with a prisoner who enters and sits beside her, she provides a comedic, refreshing sense of raw and real honesty to a room previously commanded by hypocrisy.
However, Evie’s quick-wit and defensive humour seems to crumble as she opens up to Adam about her past trauma. The two bond over their status as victims of a system not set up for them, taking the audience back to the heart of the play, an exploration of social injustice.
Orla Wyatt’s fantastic writing makes for a script that is perceptive, attuned to issues of systemic inequality that resonate deeply. The incredible cast, through their frantic character shifts and relentless movement, bring every character (except for the mysteriously ill man with a tragic ending) to life.
A&E promises hilarity, relatability, emotion, and engagement for audience members, making it a must-see show.
A&E is running until 22 August at theSpace, Symposium Hall. Buy tickets here.
Image credits to Grace Yu.
