Harrow's Angels
8 October 2022 at 4pm and 7pm
The Boiler House, Harrow Arts Centre, 171 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Harrow, HA5 4EA
Celebrating the black nurse who saved lives in the UK's worst peacetime rail crash and the modern paramedics who've followed in her footsteps.
Tickets: www.harrowarts.com or 020 3773 7161
Sharing a hidden history from Harrow, 'Harrow's Angels' celebrates the black nurse who saved lives in the UK's worst peacetime rail crash and the modern paramedics who've followed in her footsteps.
During the morning rush hour on 8 October 1952, three trains collided at Harrow & Wealdstone station, causing over a hundred deaths and hundreds of casualties. Part of an emergency medical team, Lieutenant Abbie Sweetwine was the only nurse at the crash site and a black woman â€" one of the few then serving in the US Air Force.
Dubbed 'The Angel of Platform Six' by the Daily Mirror, Abbie and her story are surprisingly little-known today. But the triage tactics she used at Harrow proved that getting patients to hospital as fast as possible wasn't always the way, paving the way for today's paramedics.
Modern paramedics are still put on a pedestal as “angelsâ€, but almost half of all black and Asian staff have also been abused or threatened at work. This performance explores the past and present of women medical workers' conflicting experiences, from being nominated for awards to being attacked by their patients.
Directed by Erica Miller: @EricaTheatre, www.ericamiller.com
Written by Kate Webster: @kateweb, bit.ly/KateWebster
Reviews of previous productions:
"convincing, energetic and likeable" Fest
"wonderful storytelling" edfringe.com
“a lot of research went into this show and it shows....well-written, entertaining and sweet"Londonist
“a well-acted and articulate monologue…..marrying the wonders of cosmic physics with the domestic pain of heartbreak†Remote Goat
"infectiously enthusiastic geekiness....tremendous fun and a great way to learn things" Camden Voyeur
"Fun, goofy and always fascinating" Snipe London
Writer Kate Webster was longlisted for The Old Vic 12 scheme and shortlisted for the Euroscript Story competition in 2015. She is currently a finalist n the RED Women Theatre Awards, who staged a rehearsed reading of Gone at Greenwich Theatre in March 2016. Kate has written a number of Fringe plays, including The Universal, Helen and the space rocket and Laughter on the brain for the Camden Fringe. Upcoming work includes two site-specific plays for the MAZE festival with Sheer Drop Theatre and an audio drama, Devil's Rock, for Big Finish Productions' fantastic Dark Shadows series.
