What I’m Here For is an international collaboration between Vanishing Point and Teater Katapult that explores the conflict between hospital bureaucracy and human choices. After cancelling her plans to work another nightshift on a severely understaffed ward, nurse Flora (Lærke Schjærff Engelbrecht) volunteers to look after the patient in room 33, despite repeated warnings from her colleagues about her constant requests. But the news that her patient in room 22, a young woman suffering from headaches and loss of balance, is due to be transferred to neurology despite all her tests coming back clear concerns her. Flora is torn between her desire to protect the young woman and her duties as a nurse.
In a show with minimal staging, there is lots of pressure to create a vivid world, but it is a challenge that What I’m Here For succeeds in. Josephine Eusebius’ script is rich in imagery, transporting the audience straight into a Danish hospital. It highlights the nature of a busy shift where time seems to simultaneously speed up and slow down. Frantic, overlapping voices highlight the pressure she is under, while repetition emphasises how her memories have become muddled.
Four other cast members (Mia Dinitzen, Aisha Goodman, Aisha Lawal, Charlotte Trier) multirole as narrators and the characters that Flora meets during her shift. They all switch between their roles well, but Goodman must be commended for her portrayal of the young woman. She fully commits to the role, swapping between excitement at being discharged, to panic when the porter arrives to take her to the oncology ward. Her blind optimism about the future when she tells Flora her desire to cut off her hair and paint her flat white, is heartbreaking, subtlety foreshadowing what is to come.
The show is performed in both English and Danish, with subtitles available in both languages. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work, and following them retracts from the actresses’ performances. One scene where Flora’s colleague confides in her about her mother’s Alzheimer’s and the guilt that she cannot care for her due to her hospital shifts is not as emotional as it could have been as the audience is too focused on the subtitles.
Despite this, What I’m Here For is an excellent play. The pressure piled onto nurses and the faults within the healthcare system are definitely highlighted within the play, but refreshingly, it doesn’t feel preachy. Motifs and metaphor are woven seamlessly into the piece, which combined with the compelling storyline and perfect pacing, makes for an expertly crafted performance.
What I’m Here For will be performed at the Traverse Theatre from 15-18 April.
Words by Ellen Leslie