It was 17 August 2021 and the Auckland Theatre Company cast and crew were ready to take to the stage for the first preview performance of Things That Matter, a new play by Gary Henderson based on Dr David Galler’s bestselling memoir about working on the frontlines at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital.
But it wasn’t meant to be, with then-prime minister Jacinda Ardern announcing that same day that Auckland would move into COVID-19 Alert Level 4 lockdown at midnight that evening.
Two years on, the production is finally seeing the light of day. First set to be performed during a time when our lives were upended to spare the healthcare system from being overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, you would think the play’s timing in 2021 could not have been more apt.
Think again – fast forward two years and the state of Aotearoa’s healthcare system is in sharp focus. At the time of writing, the government had just released a plan to make up the gaps in the health workforce. In launching the strategy, Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and Te Aka Whai Ora Māori Health Authority released data revealing a gaping hole, with the agencies estimating NZ is short of around 8,300 health workers, including 4,800 nurses, 1,700 doctors, 1,050 midwives, 220 dental/oral health therapists and hygienists, 200 anaesthetic technicians and 170 pharmacists. To maintain current staffing levels, Te Whatu Ora estimates it will need to recruit or train 1,600 more health professionals a year to meet anticipated population growth. “In the time since the play was first set to run, the issues in the health system have deepened and are more pressing than ever before, but with that comes a greater opportunity to make change and progress in a purposeful way,” Dr David Galler says.
His 2017 memoir, Things That Matter: Stories of life & death, is adapted for the stage in this production. Galler worked as an intensive care specialist at Middlemore Hospital and has been an advisor to multiple health ministers. Things That Matter shines a light on the extraordinary patients Galler met during his 30 years on the frontline, the struggles society faces in caring for them and the power of human connection. The play, which renames Galler as Dr Rafal Beckman, weaves stories of his working life at New Zealand’s busiest hospital with personal reflections about his Polish-Jewish family.
Much of the original cast is on board again for the show’s August premiere. Michaela Te Awa Bird is one of just a few new performers to join the cast, as part of the show’s ensemble and in the role of April, younger sister of Tiara who is under the care of Dr Beckman. She says reading the play made her ponder the fragility of life, and she was moved by the relevance of its themes.
“It touches on the overworked and underpaid medical staff, on the under-served, marginalised communities, and also on grief and loss and the life of Dr Galler. There are so many things within the play that we explore, so I think as an audience, there’s going to be something that everyone relates to within the scope of the play,” she says.
Director Anapela Polata’ivao notes that the play contemplates some uncomfortable realities about inequities in our health system. “There are some hard-hitting truths about racism and the impacts of the system on those living below the poverty line. It’s hard to hear these discussions but they need to be heard and the play gives a voice to these issues,” she says.
Te Awa Bird found the play to accurately reflect her own personal experiences. She says as a wahine Māori, stories from within her community of people being failed by the health system are all too common. “I think that this play would have been relevant three years ago, four years ago, five years ago – I just think for a very long time the health system hasn’t been supporting its health workers as well as not adequately supporting the patients and the marginalised community.”
While there’s much talk about the health system taking place in NZ, by focusing on individual experiences, this production has the power to foster more empathetic discussions about the topic, and to shine a light on the dedicated staff doing their best under challenging circumstances. “I hope that this play will be the catalyst for more conversations around the healthcare system and how we need to better it and what ways we can better it,” Te Awa Bird says.
Things That Matter
ASB Waterfront Theatre
11-27 August
atc.co.nz
