Shey Hargreaves - Sick

I enjoyed hearing Shey tell a tale at True Stories Livea few weeks ago so I was eagerly anticipating her performance of Sick as I knew her story telling style was on point, her sense of humour wicked and her ability to captivate an audience, well oiled. However, last night’s performance out ran all my expectations, it delivered so much more than just an interesting life story.

The growing pressure on our NHS is no secret to us, however I found it really refreshing to hear true facts and  accurate figures interwoven with the real-life anecdotes relaying the impact of cuts and bureaucracy on the patients, staff and loved ones from both sides. Often what we read in the papers or hear on the news scare and mislead us with false information. As jarring as it was to hear Shey’s account of the rows of patients lined up in a corridor of the EAU, bleeding, throwing ups, passing out whilst waiting hours for a bed, I felt pleased to be privy to this grim reality. I think the entire audience appreciated Shey’s frank and brutal honesty about what went on in her work place.

There were so many layers to the show which made it all the more enjoyable and relatable for the audience. In addition to the day to day madness of the ward, we also heard of how the job impacted Shey’s personal life. She moved from her office setting over to an arm chair to distinguish between the two areas of her life, a simple but incredibly effective addition to the performance. We learned of her relationship coming to an end, a new love blossoming, the navigation of coming out as gay at work, as well as bringing a new life into this crazy world! All of this happened to our beloved story teller in such a short time frame- it really was an astonishing, inspirational story to behold.