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“After years in practice seeing through a doctors’ eyes, I find myself on a crash-course as the patient. The view isn’t quite so attractive from this side, you’ll be surprised to know.”
In this bitingly funny, bittersweet comedy, served with a healthy dose of gallows humour and a slice of magical cake, we learn what it means when the doctor becomes the patient.
For GP, Dr Jeffrey Longford, a cancer diagnosis propels him into a new life on the other side of the stethoscope. The world he held true undergoes brutal challenge as he transitions from high status, knowledgeable practitioner to vulnerable, dependant and at times, terrified patient.
Losing his title in exchange for a patient label and querying the professions’ steadfast view on assisted dying are just two of a glut of issues which throw Dr Longfords’ long-standing belief system into sharp relief.
From an award-winning team including a writer who was a former GP, Heartsink is filled with acute wit and humane comedy as it describes this collision of perspectives and tackles ostensibly unfunny issues with insightful empathy and compassion.
A cast of characters who are not as they seem intertwine with the beleaguered doctor: his Irish patient Cara conceals her devastating secret behind hypochondria, endless demands for more tests and an unwavering resolve to preserve Greatest Aunt Laura’s (who was probably a witch) ancient recipe; Hospital Receptionist Suzie, masks her brilliant philosophical mind behind a grungy exterior and caustic tongue. While gentle Dr Roofi, who idolises his colleague, takes on the unenviable task of reminding him of his societal and professional duties, all the time defying the spectre of Dignitas
Skilfully presented from both sides, Heartsink juxtaposes two worlds which are intricately linked in their purpose but widely separate in their experience.
Here’s the initial audience response….….
“Brilliant! Everyone in the health service would benefit from seeing this too” Dr MD Senior GP partner, Surrey.
“Such a beautiful story. That perfect balance between comedy and real emotion.” Harry, London.
“Thought provoking. Contemporary. Just amazing…and funny!” Dr JC, Consultant Radiologist, Devon.
“Surprised at the emotion I felt. It blew me away!” Helen, Chiswick.
“I’d 100% recommend it to everyone! It doesn’t pull any punches.” Alexander, London
Best known to millions around the world as Aunt Sarah in the hit TV show Derry Girls, Northern Irish actress Kathy Kiera Clarke was already well established as a stage actor when she found fame in Lisa McGee’s much-loved comedy. I saw her as Grace in Brian Friel’s mighty Faith Healer at Bristol Old Vic giving a mesmerising performance in a mesmerising play. She has played Lady Macbeth and Medea and was in the Royal Court premiere of Conor McPherson’s Shining City. She is definitely no slouch.
This week she can be found at Riverside in a new play, Heartsink, in which she plays Cara, one of those patients who haunt GP’s surgeries and who used to be known by GPs as “heartsink” patients, a disused term describing those who, every time they step through the door, cause the doctor’s heart to sink because they take up a disproportionate amount of time.
But as Dr Jeffrey Longford (played by Aden Gillett) discovers, there is much more to Cara than it first appears. “What I’m bringing to the table,” says the writer, former GP Farine Clarke, “is my own experience of being a doctor, although it was a very long time ago, and my interest in looking at what happens when the doctor suddenly finds himself in the position of being a patient.” It is something that she herself knows because a few years ago she had a kidney transplant. Heartsink is by no means autobiographical, but she does say that it was having the transplant which made her realise she had to seize the day and invest in becoming a full-time playwright.
Heartsink is a comedy but one which encompasses grief which is manifest in many different ways, and Kathy Kiera Clarke says that she knew she was going to do the play as soon as she read it, not least because she has been dealing with her own grief: her mother died just over a year ago.
“Grief changes you,” says Clarke, “and after the initial wretched grief that you think will never ever shift, it can move into something more nourishing.” She says that there was one particular speech Cara has in the play which spoke directly to her because as “you navigate grief; it changes your relationship to religion or spirituality, and you learn to live your life in a different way."
Which Clarke herself has had to do since the end of the final series of Derry Girls, pointing out that there are many kinds of grief and letting go of character like Sarah can be tricky.
15 Apr, 2026 | By Lyn Gardner