Golden Hearts is an
evocative and compassionate drama described by the author as being drawn upon
‘the inheritance of personal loss’. Any death has an impact, but when it is
that of a brother or a father at a relatively young age then it has an
immediate and long term effect which resonates through generations.
It is a tribute to the
skills of the writer Sudha
Bhuchar along with a talented
cast that such strong emotional content is handled deftly with touches of
humour, the use of music and a minimalist set. Golden Hearts weaves together
multiple stories around the unacceptably high rate of heart disease
particularly amongst many people of South Asian heritage.
It is a performance
that truly touches all. It is universal in tackling issues of health and
wellbeing, diet and lifestyle, culture and community. It addresses the patient
- doctor relationship, communication and information, attitude and facts. It
steadfastly refuses to be a drama with a message. I sat, absorbed in watching
the story whilst simultaneously translating the emotions to my own experience
and journey of cancer, albeit over twenty years ago.
It is a story about a South
Asian family that can equally translate to any family whether in Nottingham,
Glasgow or Leeds. Yet, the fact is that one community is more affected than
many others. This drama sets that out for us to see and think about this
undeniable fact.
This is theatre as
enquiry. It is a hearing, questioning and interrogation of people’s stories.
It reflects and refracts through
different prisms of real life experience, the role of an artist in residence,
clinical uncertainty and a study in genetic research. It is a piece of work
that is continually evolving and developing, much like the research that is
taking place alongside.
It is drama that
belongs to the community and mirrors the values, thinking and practice of the
East London Genes & Health research. It is about the community being fully,
actively and meaningfully involved. It is a performance taking place at Rich Mix - 'a cultural space for everyone at the heart of East London'.
This challenges many
of the ways in which we have actively involved people in making sure that
research is relevant and patient centred. Golden Hearts turns traditional
thinking on its head.
We are invited to hear
the voices of local people, to observe people’s experiences and to bear witness
to the Sudha’s personal story.
It is, however,
Sudha's role as 'artist-in-residence' with the genetic research that brings yet
another dimension. This post asks us to think about how we capture, make sense
of the patient story and present it in a way for interpretation, meaning and
understanding. It touches on the research but is far more closely about health
and wellbeing. In this way to avoids being drama with a message. The ‘artist in
residence’ is the gatherer, questioner and host for the audience.
East
London Genes & Health
is one of the world’s largest community-based genetics studies, aiming to improve
health among people of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage in East London by
analysing the genes and health of 100,000 local people. It is a testament to
the clinicians, senior investigators and the team that the starting place is
their uncertainty. The community and the research walking step by step.
The most powerful
scenes, for me, are those moments told directly or re-told by the characters.
These were all, in Peter Brook’s phrase, ‘as if’ we are there with the doctor
or listening to the telling about the heart attack.
These are the periods
of real tension as we wonder what will happen next. Most informative are the
dialogues between clinician and patients. Most enjoyable is the interaction
between patients and families in waiting areas and wards. Most touching are the
memories of Bangladesh, of Tanzania, East Africa told mostly through song which
remind us of the richness derived through the inclusion of different cultures.
It was a privilege to
be invited and to listen to the discussion following the performance led by Samira Ahmed who touched on her own experiences, along with Prof David van Heel and Sudha Bhuchar
Thank you Virginia Govoni, Sudha Bhuchard, @East LondonGenes but especially to those whose stories are being
told.
Drama has a real place for high quality research.
PS Lovely to meet up again with Karen Spicer - have twenty years passed so quickly? I will post a picture of the Stepping Stones pack on Twitter we developed @InterplayLeeds
