The Phlebotomist (2022)
by Ella Road
Performances: Tuesday 8 – Saturday 12 March 2022, Old Fire Station
Contents
Introduction
phle•bot•o•mist (fləˈbɒt ə mɪst)
n. A nurse or other health worker trained in drawing venous blood for testing or donation.
In an all too possible near future, your rating in a single blood test determines your prospects for education, jobs, credit, dating and so much more. Phlebotomist Bea meets and falls in love with Aaron, a high-rating, intelligent and handsome young man. The future looks bright, but when her lifelong friend Char discovers she has a low rating and asks Bea to fake a better blood sample, Bea enters the murky world of black market dealing. How far will people go in a world where health, wealth and happiness depend on a single blood test?
Ella Road's debut play The Phlebotomist opened at Hampstead Theatre in 2018. In 2019 the production received an Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and was adapted into a radio drama for BBC Radio 3. In 2020 it was translated into German under the title Die Laborantin, leading to productions across Germany and Austria, and it became the most performed new play in the German language of 2021.
In between each of the 15 onstage scenes there are video and audio interludes, showing us glimpses of the world beyond the stage going to hell in a handcart.
Cast
- Bea - Sarah Pearcey
- Aaron - Jamie Bowman
- David - Brian McNulty
- Char - Han Evans
- Phlebotomist / Citizen / Gambler - Bex Law
- Patient - Eddie Coleman
with, on video and audio:
- Herself - Professor Dame Sally Davies
- Doctor - Katie Floyd
- Doctor - Rob Wallis
- Doctor - Vikki Thompson
- NHS helpline - David Blatcher
- Patient - Janine Wunsche
- Dater - Jo Boniface
- Charity appeal - Cal Beckett
- MyRate testimonial - Audrey Lindsay
- MyRate testimonial - Lily Ann Green
- Courtney Shrier - Celia Delaney
- Sam Manuel - Josiah De Phoenix
- Today show interviewer - Abigail Baggili
- Government minister - Vikki Thompson
- News anchor - Sarah Assaf
- Looter - Katie Floyd
- Looter - Chaz Doyle
- Looter - Paul White
- Thring Group spokesman - Tom Melly
- Dr Devki Salt - Fiona Daffern
- Journalist - John Winters
- Photographer - Caroline Durant
- Reporter voiceover - Tristan White
- Mother of the bride - Cal Beckett
- Interviewer - Mark Ireson
- News reporter - Will Howells
- Supportive bystander - Kim Goldsmith
- Demonstrator - Barry Heselden
- Demonstrator - Greg Williams
- Demonstrator - Siobhán Campbell
- CPNT testimonial - Tom Mathias
- CPNT testimonial - Kirsten Millar
Crew
Reviews
Some review quotes go here
Gallery
Reminiscences and Anecdotes
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See Also
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Or add anything that is related within this site. The author's page for instance or other plays with a similar theme.
