Tiger Country was the play that saved the Hampstead Theatre during the theatre’s “dark winter of 2011”. It was a sell-out hit, with punters queuing for returns. As Edward Hall, the theatre’s artistic director puts it; he knew that Hampstead had a future after Tiger Country.
The play has now been brought back three years later for Hampstead’s Christmas and New Year period. A tense, enjoyable, populist drama it explores the strains, stresses and personal struggles of the doctors working in a busy NHS hospital.
Wide-eyed junior doctor Emily’s (Ruth Everett) transition from eager optimism to cynical clincalism, focuses the narrative, and leads the audience into the emotional labyrinth of the hospital.
From boisterous junior surgeons with a point to prove, to arrogant seniors frustratingly trying to get promoted – Nina Raine’s play illustrates at once both the universality and the uniqueness of the medical profession. Her entirely relatable, and three-dimensional characters are forced to make decisions that we could not comprehend making (unless of course you happen to be a doctor).
Having said that, the play doesn’t achieve or say anything that I haven’t seen already on television. Of course Casualty and Holby can sometimes seem far-fetched, and the emotional entanglement of the shows offers more frisson than reflection – but their USPs are that they offer a window onto a world that seems inherently more dramatic.
In an interview for the production, Raine says that her play ‘deals with not just the nitty-gritty and the small-print of medicine, but epic things like the possibility of spirit, the nature of pain, clairvoyance, and the gut brain.’ She goes on to say that ‘that opens a door to a plane of expression which has to be bolder than that encompassed by, for instance, Holby.’
In theory, that may well be the case; but in practice there aren’t too many differences between Raine’s play and a good TV medical drama. This possibly accounts for why it was so popular back in 2011.
Still, what you do gain from having that kind of drama on stage, however, is the immediacy of theatre. Seeing an operation acted out on stage is a reminder of the fact that doctors all over the country take people’s lives in their hands every minute of every day. It makes it feel more real. It gives you a lump in the throat. You’re taken in by the gripping action happening in front of your eyes.
Then again, that drama is never actually as engrossing as real life itself, and Channel 4’s documentary series 24 hours in A&E is a far more compelling, dramatic and arresting watch than Raine’s play. It’s interesting to note that its first series of was broadcast in the same year as the play was written. Perhaps Tiger Country doesn’t pack a punch now that we’ve seen this drama play out for real on our television screens.
In a roundabout way, Tiger Country really makes you wonder what the theatre is for. Raine may think that her play has a bolder plane of expression than TV medical dramas, but without a bold message, and given the well-trodden ground, it just ends up just feeling like something we’ve seen before. While some may find this deja-vu warmly entertaining, others may want a bit more bite for their buck.
Tiger Country at Hampstead Theatre until 17th January. For more information and tickets, visit the website.
