Telling Nurses’ Real and Unusual Stories Through Verbatim Theatre - Guest blog by Konrad Lepkowski

Creating a Verbatim Performance About Nurses

In our Theatre & Communities module, we looked at and learned about different types of community and verbatim theatre and their purposes. We were given an assignment to create a performance using words and dialogue from nurses, whom our tutor has invited to come in and interview my peers and me.

Verbatim theatre is when a company or a group, etc., creates a performance using words that were spoken by other people. This is used to tell audiences real stories from people who have experienced an event or events, depending on the topic and the types of audiences that the company is aiming for. The dialogue is usually taken from interviews in person or interviews that have been published online.

The recordings that they receive from interviews are transcribed into text, which can then be taken and edited for the actors to learn and practice speaking it exactly like the people who were interviewed, including every stutter, every “umm”, and every laughter to make it sound real and more authentic. This creates emotional connections between the characters and the audience.

Researching and Reading About Verbatim Theatre

Before we could do any interviews, we had to do some research because Schweitzer (2006, p. 42) stated that people who don’t do research won’t be able to “understand any of the references in an interviewee’s testimony,” and it would also make them look like they’re not putting in an effort to the work. So, it’s important to have some knowledge of the topic you’ll be talking about. I’ve learnt that there are two ways you could do this: conduct a one-to-one interview or do it with a group. With one-to-one interviews, there are no interruptions by other people, and the flow won’t be ruined. Schweitzer (2006, p. 45) believes that you’ll be able to get more information on “personal experiences and difficult memories” because the interviewee won’t be afraid of talking too much. Whereas, doing interviews with groups, you have shared responsibilities, and sometimes when discussing certain names or locations, it could “trigger a long-forgotten memory for somebody else”. (Schweitzer 2006, p. 44) This makes it feel more like a social event instead of an interview, and remembered memories could spark some more discussion and allow you to get more texts and dialogue for the performance.

Preparation for the Interviews With the Nurses

We’ve been informed by our tutor that five nurses have accepted the invitation and will come in to have interviews with us. Our tutor advised us that it’s best to get into small groups, and each group will have an interview with one of the five nurses. We needed to prepare our questions for our nurses so that we could know what experiences they had and which ones we should use in our performance. We discussed what we should ask them and decided to have some simple questions, such as: “Why did you become a nurse?” or “What was it like to be a nurse?” to get some backstory for our actors who will play the nurses. Then we decided to have some specific questions like “What was it like working during the COVID pandemic?” or “Was there a patient that wasn’t very cooperative?” to get some stories out of the nurses that we can use and put them into our performance. To make it fair, my group and I distributed all of the questions equally so that each of us would ask the nurse the same number of questions.

Meeting and Interviewing the Nurses

We’ve met Agnes, who we interviewed in one of the podcast rooms that was booked for us. We’ve asked her our questions and found out a bit about how she became a nurse. Then I asked her what it was like working during COVID, and she said that she wasn’t working when we went into lockdown in March, and it was difficult for everyone. This didn’t provide much information to us to create a scene because she wasn’t involved during that time. Later in the interview, I asked her if there was a patient who wasn’t very cooperative, and she revealed that she was attacked by a man who lured her over and hit her on the back of her head. She also said that the man actually used to hit his wife as well. Hearing this has shocked me, but this gave us information and allowed us to create a scene that looks into a negative experience that she had, but she also told us about patients who had dementia. She said that people with dementia become different, and they behave aggressively towards their relatives and family members, which is shocking to them.

Picking Out the Words and Creating Scenes and Scripts

After the interviews and got our transcripts, we’ve picked out stories that sounded intriguing. We’ve picked out three stories: where she got attacked by a man who lured her over, when she met John, who was the first male nurse, and Robbie, who was in hospital for a year after a motorbike accident. Next, we’ve picked out words that we wanted to use, and we removed some repeating texts and texts that made it sound like an interview rather than telling a story. We each then needed to make scripts for the stories that we chose. Each person worked on a story, and I was tasked with scripting the story when Agnes was attacked and when she talks about dementia. Originally, I wrote the scene where we would have a split stage, where Agnes is telling us the story, and then a couple of my peers would act and mime the actions as Agnes is speaking. I’ve also split the scene into parts, in which she will tell us about the shocking experience when she was hit, and then she’ll tell us about the people with dementia and their sudden, violent behaviours.

Putting It up on Stage

Finally, we started to put all of our scenes on its feet. Everyone who made a script for a scene had to direct it. I directed my scene with one of my peers who played as Agnes and a couple of my peers who played as a man, younger Agnes, a patient with dementia, and their relative. While I was directing, my peer who played as Agnes suggested that she should get up and go to centre stage instead of just staying seated at the table. I agreed with her because I remembered that in almost every scene, someone playing as the nurse gets up and puts themselves in the scene where they're retelling their experiences and stories. We added in lights, music, and sounds, and then we performed it to a small audience, including a couple of the nurses that we’ve interviewed. I’ve quite enjoyed this module, collecting and learning information from other people, and shaping it into a performance was quite intriguing to me.

References:

Schweitzer, P (2006) Reminiscence Theatre: Making Theatre from Memories. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.

Bibliography:

Jeffers, A (2017) Culture, Democracy and the Right to Make Art: The British Community Arts Movement. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama: London.

Paget, D (1987) ‘Verbatim Theatre’: Oral History and Documentary Techniques’, New Theatre Quarterly, 3(12), pp.317-335. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00002463

Schweitzer, P (2006) Reminiscence Theatre: Making Theatre from Memories. Jessica Kingsley Publishers: London.

Voices of the Ward: Bringing Nursing History to Life Guest blog by Liv Howard

Creating a performance based on real lives requires a delicate balance of storytelling and truth, making something entertaining while also remaining respectful- these are real people's stories. Our recent project focused on capturing the lived experiences of healthcare workers through verbatim theatre. This approach is designed to build respect and trust with the audience by ensuring the history we present is authentic and unfiltered. 

Verbatim Theatre…what is it and why is it important?

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary style drama that is built entirely from the real words of real people. Unlike traditional playwriting, where a writer creates dialogue to serve a plot, a verbatim playwright acts more like an editor or a curator. They take raw material, usually from interviews, transcripts, or recorded testimonies and arrange it into a dramatic structure.

Below is a detailed breakdown of its core components and why it was such an essential component of our project: 

1. The Collection of Testimony

The process begins with "fieldwork." This involves conducting deep-dive interviews with subjects (like our interview with Jenny). The goal is to capture not just the facts of a story, but the specific way a person speaks, their hesitations, their humor, and their unique vocabulary. 

2. Performance Techniques

There are two main ways verbatim theatre is performed:

●     Traditional Verbatim: Actors memorise the edited transcript and perform it like a standard play.

●     Recorded Delivery (Headphone Verbatim): Actors wear headphones on stage and hear the actual recording of the interviewee. They repeat the words exactly as they hear them in real-time including every "um" "ah," and breath. We chose the former to create a more lived in piece as opposed to something that could become quite robotic. 

3. Why it is Important

Verbatim theatre is often called "theatre of witness." It is important for several reasons:

●     Giving Voice: It allows people who are often left out of history books (like everyday ward nurses) to have their stories told to the community.

●     Audience Connection: Because the language is natural and real, it is incredibly easy to understand. It breaks down the barrier between the "expert" and the "audience," making the history timely and relevant. 

The Podcast Room: Capturing the Unfiltered Voice

To ensure our project maintained the highest level of respect and trust, we conducted our interview with Jenny in a dedicated podcast room. We took advantage of the high-quality audio to capture every nuance of her speech. If the source material is clear, the final product is more professional. 

By recording the session, we were able to:

• Capture every detail: From any specific medical terminology to the subtle pauses in her storytelling. 

• Transcribe for accuracy: Having a written record allowed us to move away from memory and rely on the exact real words provided.

• Maintain a consistent tone: Seeing the words on paper helped us identify the unique voice of a nurse that would eventually drive our script.

The Transcript Discovery: Sifting for ‘Gold’

A fascinating part of the process was the shift between the live interview and the transcription phase. During the actual conversation in the podcast room, it felt difficult to pick out standalone stories. The flow of natural speech can be messy and winding. However, once we began sifting through the transcript, clear narratives started to emerge.

This is a common challenge in creating well-structured and concise content. While the big stories weren't immediately obvious, the transcript was filled with:

●     Vivid Phrases: Short, punchy sentences that perfectly captured the atmosphere of the ward.

●     Hidden Ideas: Small details about daily routines that, when isolated, became powerful dramatic hooks.

 Turning the large bits of text into a scene

Just as a blog post needs to avoid walls of text, a verbatim script needs to be edited for impact. We acted as curators of Jenny's memory. By picking out specific sentences and ideas from the transcript, we were able to: 

• Solve the Interest Problem: We took fragments of conversation and organised them into a useful and educational scene.

• Build a Narrative: We used internal links within her own words, connecting a comment she made at the start of the interview to a conclusion she reached at the end.

 Reflective Note: This process taught me that the story isn't always what is said loudest, often it’s found in the small, quiet sentences uncovered during the transcription process. 

Scripting the Scene: Humour as a Historical Tool

In our interview, Jenny mentioned that using humour was a vital coping mechanism for nurses who were often intimidated by their senior staff.

To reflect this in our performance, I decided to center a scene around a particularly bizarre moment from her career: the mystery of the "grassy" bedpan. 

Finding the Story in the Words

Although the scene is not an exact word-for-word transcript, it is a story created around her words to capture the authentic atmosphere of the ward. This approach helps to build authority and trust by grounding the drama in real-life industry insights.   

Key elements of the "Grapefruit Poo" script include:

●     The Problem: Jenny discovers "grassy stuff" in a patient’s bedpan that baffles her and her colleagues. 

●     The Conflict: The fear of the "Ward Sister," whose authority made the younger nurses hesitant to ask for help. 

●     The Resolution: A quick, blunt diagnosis from the Sister, it was simply undigested grapefruit.   

To make the performance engaging, I focused on a couple of technical elements:

●     Well-Structured Narrative: The scene follows a clear arc, from the initial discovery to the humorous investigation involving multiple nurses.   

●     Consistent Tone: By maintaining Jenny's lighthearted yet slightly panicked tone during her encounter with the Ward Sister, I ensured the script felt timely and relevant to her actual experiences. 

Why This Scene Works

By dramatising this mystery, we aren't just telling a funny story, we are answering a question about what daily clinical observation was really like, from patient interaction, colleague discussions and even the fearsome ward sister. 

The Final Act: Stepping into Jenny’s Shoes

The transition from the podcast room to the stage brought a new set of challenges, specifically regarding respect and trust. In our performance, I took on the role of Jenny herself. This was a significant responsibility- when you use someone’s real words to create shareable content, you are essentially acting as the custodian of their history.   

Nerve-wracking Reality:

Performing a scene like the "grapefruit poo mystery" while the woman who lived it is sitting just a few feet away is incredibly daunting. My primary goal was to ensure a consistent tone and style that honored Jenny’s experience. I didn't want to just play a character; I wanted to represent her profession with the credibility it deserves. 

Useful Feedback

Talking to her after the performance allowed us to see if we had successfully translated her "grassy stuff" story into a piece that was as entertaining and reliant on her humour that we'd hoped it would be.

Final Reflections: More Than Just a Story

Reflecting on this journey, from the quiet of the podcast room to the energy of the live performance has highlighted the unique power of verbatim theatre to inform, educate, and inspire. By focusing on the real words of healthcare professionals like Jenny, we’ve been able to bridge the gap between years of medical history and the lived human experience. 

As I spoke with Jenny after the performance, I realised that we hadn't just performed a play, we had created a living archive. By maintaining a consistent tone and style, we ensured that her memories were treated with the respect and credibility they deserve. Moving forward, I am more convinced than ever that the best way to keep history alive is to simply listen and then share those voices with the world.

Bibliography

Out of Joint (n.d.). Verbatim Theatre | Out of Joint. [online] www.outofjoint.co.uk. Available at: https://www.outofjoint.co.uk/education/verbatim-theatre.html.

Healing Hands, Hidden Stories - Guest Blog by Lilly Platt

Brief overview

Our nursing stories performance was a profoundly moving experience for me from start to finish. I was able to develop and build on many interpersonal skills, such as communication, collaboration, and leadership, which gave me invaluable experience for future projects. This performance was a way for us to not only learn about the lived experiences of the nurses through the interviews we led, but also to take the information and turn it into a performance that helps others understand the impact the nurses had on the community. I hope that with this performance, we have inspired people to look further into the life-altering hardships of nursing staff and show respect for all that they have done. We created this performance using verbatim theatre to show respect for the personal stories that were shared with us, whilst additionally creating the characters we were playing as a direct representation of the people we interviewed, making them easily identifiable by the nurses when we later showcased our performance to them.

Interview group: Lilly, Millie, Josh

Nurse: Judith

What is verbatim theatre, and how did we use it?

Verbatim theatre is a form of documentary theatre created from real people’s words, which are used to explore themes and events from the people who experienced them. We used verbatim theatre by initially coming up with a list of 25 questions we wanted to ask the nurses to allow them to talk about stories they didn’t mind sharing or experiences they had. My group had the pleasure of interviewing Judith about her time as a nurse, during which we got many stories from her throughout our discussion. The interview was recorded, which allowed us to read through an entire transcript of Judith’s experiences word for word, which we then used while scripting our individual scenes.

Interviewing the nurses

The process of interviewing one of the nurses was engaging and challenging at the same time due to the fact that it was a new experience.  The task required us as a group to extract as much information from Judith in a short timeframe after only just meeting her. My group, consisting of Josh, Millie and me, worked collaboratively to prepare our list of questions and evenly distribute them among us. Unfortunately, Millie was ill the day of the interviews, making us re-distribute her questions between the two of us. During a discussion with Josh, we decided that I was the more confident talker around new people, so I took over a large section of the questions at the start of the interview to hopefully create a comfortable environment to share information. The first meeting with Judith immediately settled my worries as we sat and became acquainted by discussing the interview process. When we began our interview, we immediately found that Judith was an amazing person to learn about, as she felt comfortable sharing a wide range of stories and urged us to ask more. She promoted us to adapt specific questions in a way for her to understand and took the time to ask us questions about what we were going to do with the stories and how we were going to bring them to life. At the end of the interview, I felt extremely confident in the range of information we received from Judith, which we could then take from the transcript to help us in the rest of the performance process.

Using our findings to create scripts

After receiving the transcripts of our interview, we spent time reading through the entire thing and gaining understanding of where stories begin and end. Josh additionally separated all of the potential stories that we could use in devising some scenes, which we looked at and discussed as a group which ones we found would the most impactful or intriguing to share. Initially we picked one scene which was the ‘Lamb and Geese’ scene which josh scripted as verbatim which consisted of only Judiths actual words, in the exact way she said them. Josh took the lead in devising this scene however all of us gave ideas to create a visually effective performance. I stood in as the ‘character’ of Judith alongside a group of other students who played a chorus of geese which umbrellas as a representation of flapping wings, this was a picturesque moment that made the scene even more humorous. The rest of the scene consisted of the ensemble making animal noises such as clucking of hens and meowing of cats and finally Felix as a lamb to further prove the hilarity of the scene. The process of creating this scene from my perspective was extremely straightforward and came together seamlessly whilst also being impactful for an audience.

Devising the ‘morgue scene’

During this performance, I had the opportunity to script and devise my own scene, so I went back to the list of potential stories that we obtained from our interview with Judith and created the ‘morgue scene’ from Judith's experience of taking a dead patient to the mortuary. I picked this story as it was a direct contrast to the ‘Lamb and Geese scene’ in tonality, as I wanted to show the range of experiences that nurses go through and how they dealt with them. This story was an emotional experience for Judith, and I wanted to do this scene as respectfully as I could, which is why I only used sentences directly from the interview. My idea for this scene was influenced by reminiscence theatre, as the character of ‘Judith’, played by me, was almost looking back on the memory as Millie and Josh mimed the entirety of the scene. Additionally, with the completion of all of the scenes from every group, Alfie had the idea that all of the people playing nurses would be sat at a table together at the back, reminiscing about their times as nurses, which brought the entire performance together by emphasising the community that comes from nursing through shared experience.

Final performance

On April 28th, I completed the final community theatre performance, which I believe went extremely well. In the final rehearsal before the performance, everyone had something that didn’t go to plan. I had forgotten one of my lines, so my stress levels were heightened. However, once I sat down in my position and the nurses we interviewed came and sat in the audience, the stress I had was replaced with excitement to show what we had created back to the nurses. During the performance, when it came to my scenes, I got to look at all of the nurses, but when I was performing Judith’s stories, I looked at her, and she had the biggest smile on her face that filled me with so much pride. In my opinion, I found the entire performance went smoothly and came together into a performance to be proud of. However, if I were to do this performance again, I would possibly extend the number of stories we created into scenes and continue to work on my tonality and pronunciation to further meet the brief of verbatim theatre. In conclusion, I am proud of the work I have completed over this performance process, and the feedback we received from all the nurses was extremely positive. Judith even pulled me to the side at the end and told me I did an amazing job, which solidified that this process taught me so much.

RHS Malvern Spring Festival 2026 feature garden to be relocated to Worcestershire Royal Hospital

A feature garden from this year’s Royal Three Counties Show and RHS Malvern Spring Festival will find a permanent new home at The Charles Hastings Education Centre at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

The garden, called “Clay: the super soil,” showcases the use of clay materials in a contemporary styled garden, with a nod to traditional artisan crafts. The garden has been designed and created by multi-award-winning garden designer, Martyn Wilson, Director of Wilson Associates Garden Design.

Joint funding from The Charles Hastings Education Centre Charity, in partnership with Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity, will enable this incredible garden to be carefully relocated to Worcestershire Royal Hospital following the festival.

The raw materials and structures will be thoughtfully re-interpreted to create a beautiful, accessible green space for staff, patients and visitors. Featuring a covered space and seating area to support private conversations, alongside raised planting beds, the new garden will transform the existing outdoor space into a calm and restorative place that supports people’s wellbeing.

Sophie Burt, Head of Fundraising at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Charity commented “We are really looking forward to seeing this amazing garden reimagined at the hospital. Access to green space can make a huge different to everyone’s wellbeing, and as a Charity we work to transform spaces across our hospitals for the benefit of patients, visitors and staff alike.”

Phil Morris, Secretary to the Charity said: “The Trustees of the Charles Hastings Education Centre - CHEC - strive to provide a best-in-class, state-of-the-art clinical education establishment. The garden will enhance and complement the cutting-edge training facilities and medical museum which, already, make CHEC a unique learning space”.

The garden will also include a traditional physic garden, creating opportunities to educate on the historic use of plants and herbs in medicine. Louise Price, Museum Curator commented “The George Marshall Medical Museum already interprets some of the historic uses of plants in medicine, now we plan to plant and nurture the real thing in a garden that everyone can enjoy.”

“Clay: the super soil” can be viewed alongside other new and inspiring gardens at the Royal Three Counties Show from 12 to 14 June 2026, before opening to visitors at The Charles Hastings Education Centre later this summer.

Photo credits to Worcestershire Royal Hospitals NHS Trust.