This May Hurt A Bit, St James Theatre

What is the cost of the government’s reorganization of the NHS? This is the question posed by husband-and-wife team Max Stafford-Clark and Stella Feehily in their new play This May Hurt a Bit, opening at the St James Theatre in May 2014 following a UK tour.

We’re not quite sure what to expect at this stage– the director-duo are still casting. The play was inspired by the couple’s personal experiences (Stafford-Clark was hospitalised repeatedly after suffering a stroke in 2006) and charts one family’s journey ‘through the digestive system of the NHS’.

There’s sure to be some of Feehilly’s trademark wit – and anything touched by new writing company Out of Joint’s director Stafford-Clark promises to be a worthwhile evening at the theatre. He helmed Caryl Churchill’s infamous Top Girls in the 80s at the Royal Court – the rich satire that is fawned over three decades on – and is ‘the best British play ever from a woman dramatist’ according to Michael Billington. After many subsequent and successful collaborations with Churchill, Stafford-Clark’s presence on the national theatre scene is still formidable, and his collaborations with the regional Bolton Octagon are providing electrifying drama away from the sometimes stifling bubble of London’s west end.

He and Feehily are long-term collaborators; she has written a series of shows for Out of Joint, including Duck, Dreams of Violence and, most recently, Bang Bang Bang which sold out the Royal Court's Theatre Upstairs. 

We’re intrigued to see this particular stage at the St James taken over by Stafford-Clark once again. His early 2013 production of Our Country’s Good at the same venue was exceptional, playing to well deserved rave reviews, and This May Hurt a Bit looks to follow suit. The prognosis for the NHS may be in question, but Out of Joint Theatre Company looks to be in great health.