The best medicine

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 18

The best medicine

By

CHRISTOPHER MOORE

If laughter, music and a certain theatrical panache are good medicine, The Princess Margaret Hospital Players have been working for six years to perfect their prescription. Officially formed in 1982, the Players continue to tread the boards in a series of revues and performances written, produced and staged by members of the hospital staff for the enjoyment of the community. Members have sung in old people’s homes, hospital chapels and in public performances. They have clowned, danced and sung their way* through “The Best of British,” “Bloomers and Blazers” and “Contacky Tours” — proving that hospitals are not necessarily hushed temples of healing. For the orderlies, supervisors, administration and medical staff who take to the stage in the group’s production, the performances and rehearsals involve hard work, energy and the opportunity to do something completely different.

"we have never tried to make the shows ’medically’ orientated. Many people attending the Players’ shows wouldn't understand medical humour. We try to provide something which will appeal to everyone rather than a select few,” the Players’ president, Gillian Parr, said. The next 12 months will see The Princess Margaret Hospital Players quite literally raising the roof during a fund raising campaign to begin extensions to the hospital’s recreation hall.

The hall, discreetly tucked in behind the nurses’ hostel, was the focus for the Players’ first performance. Originally built as a games room for live-in staff, the hall passed to the social and amenities committee through the hospital manager.

In 1980, a group chaired by Stella Randle produced and performed the hospital’s first live theatre production, “Yule Fried Frolics,” with the support of the Halswell Drama Group. The proceeds from the

performance went towards the construction of a new kitchen in the hall. " ‘Yule Fried Frolics’ used basic scenery and lighting on a very small stage; There were no curtains and no backdrops,” Gillian Parr remembers. “Pretty basic stuff ...” But as that non-existent curtain fell in the imaginations of cast, the enthusiasm lingered. “That first performance started one tradition. The audience sat at tables while members of the X-

ray department staff served as waitresses. The idea somehow continued.”

In December, 1981, “Cafe Continental” took to the small stage while the cast shared toilet and other facilities with the audience.

In February, 1982, The Princess Margaret Hospital Players were formed, under the presidency of the hospital manager, Tony Dutton. The staging of the revues gradually improved, but lighting and sound facilities are still a question of borrowing or improvisation. The planned extension of the hospital’s recreation hall will provide the Players with a permanent stage, toilets, dressing, wardrobe and storage space. Stage, curtains, lighting and sound will become fixtures instead of temporary features. The project matches the current mood of the theatre group. “The Players have gone from strength to strength. Apart from the annual revue, the members try to visit other hospitals and elderly people, perform-

ances which the casts find personally rewarding. At the end of a recent performance in front of an elderly audience, several members of the cast were in tears,” Gillian Parr said.

Fund raising activities have included the publishing of “Nosh Cookery Book,” the purchase of building bricks and chocolate sales.