For some, the workplace is synonymous with shiny desks, immaculate windows and a calm open sea of computers, complete with the reassuring hubbub of Monday morning gossip. Yet, for those that work in the capital’s hospitals, the workplace is a jungle where the gleam of a scalpel and the unforgiving glare of ward lighting mark the territory. We are in Tiger Country, a world where instinct stirs and we flirt with fate.
Nina Raine’s Tiger Country is a thrilling drama about professionalism, prejudice, romance, ambition and failure in an overburdened health service. It is far from the hyperbolic depictions of television soaps. It is frank and honest, exploring not only the daily challenges of a busy London hospital, but also the impact on the individual of being there both literally and metaphorically.
The emotional core of the play is with two ambitious female doctors, at different stages of their training, but each determined to succeed. Emily (Ruth Everett), a junior doctor, represents Tiger Country’s young blood. Though rigorous and thorough in all she does, we see her vulnerabilities as she attempts to juggle her professional identity and her relationship with medic boyfriend James (Luke Thompson). In contrast, Vashti (Indira Verma), the single and driven urology registrar rediscovers the identity that was increasingly obscured behind the surgical mask.
Raine seamlessly integrates medic ‘slang’, and inside jokes in her docu-play and avoids caricatures. The 14-strong cast creates a working hospital in all its diversity and detail. The squeaky wheels of hospital beds, the disposable coffee cup beside the computer station and the power walks of staff contribute to a stylistically sensitive set. The audience sits either side of the stage and is immersed in the frantic hospital environment. Fergus O’Hare deserves a special commendation for his sound design with Bollywood numbers sitting alongside the melodies of Nitin Sawhney.
Tiger Country is a sharp and quick-witted play about hospital culture. It offers more than a view of hospitals and the NHS. The piece is an intelligent examination of the human cost and achievements of medicine.
Tiger Country is at Hampstead Theatre until 17th January: http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/whats-on/2014/tiger-country/
Aneka Popat, 4th Year Medical Student
St George’s, University of London
m1000780@sgul.ac.uk