Tending
As we enter the theatre space at the Riverside Studios, London – the set is rather unappealing – three blue plastic chairs against a rather untidy vertical blind which is starkly lit with fluorescent lighting. Enter the actors, wearing simple blue scrubs. (Really the designers and director aren’t helping the cast much here!) It turns out they don’t need fancy lighting, complex sets and over the top costumes. For these people have a story to tell – a story they have heard that needs to be told and heard by others.
In Tending, El Blackwood, Anjelica Serra and Ben Lynn voice the words of real, NHS-Angels. The whole script, is a powerful weaving together of interviews with over 70 nurses, crafted by El Blackwood. Tending presents a joyous and yet moving insight into lives of those people called daily to serve on the wards. From the joyous calling of many to become carers, called to heal, to the heartbreak of many in the first 6-months on the ward – cleansed only by their own tears. We should be depressed – but it seems that whatever is planted in the hearts of these angels refuses to be crushed.
Each carer has an individual story to tell. Yet each one is similar - desperately wanting to heal the brokenness of humankind whilst battling the frustration of working in (and sometimes against) a broken system.
This play shines a light into our NHS, into its workers lives on and beyond the wards. It makes you wonder how could it be? If only someone would listen! The details of working through COVID reveal just how little we really knew.
It has been said that when you hear from the voice of Angels you should listen, for Angels are messengers from God. This play contains the voices of Angels. As Boublil and Schönberg put it – “to love another person is to see the face of God”. In this play we see love of God in human form, we hear the voices of Angels. Tending needs to be seen by people in power. We should give thanks to the actors who are able to share this story with us. Praise goes to the Tending team: writers, performers and original content providers – our NHS Angels.
See it if you can.
This show was reviewed on the 16th April 2025 at the Riverside Studios, London where it runs until the 4th May 2025. Tickets available here: Tending | Riverside Studios
Review written by Paul Wood
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Photo credit: Charles Flint
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