RNCA (Bedford) – First Winter

In 2018 the RCNA was contacted by a producer and manager of the Audience Development in the Community Project at The Place Theatre Bedford. Funded by the Harpur Trust, this audience development project at The Place was devised to build new relationships with different communities in Bedford and develop projects that addressed the cultural priorities of those communities at that time.  The RCNA met with the producer, and after many conversations and some initial workshops, it was decided that they would collaborate and seek some funding that would enable them to commission a play that would tell the story of the nurses’ lives and work. The play would become an important cultural artefact, relating to Bedford’s ever-changing identity. In applying successfully to the Arts Council England for a grant, the partners brought on board playwright Yasmin Joseph, who is of Jamaican heritage. She also has close links to Bedfordshire. They also appointed Rebekah Murrell (of Bajun heritage) who became the dramaturg and director of the play which we now know as First Winter. In March 2021 the nurses themselves read First Winter in an online broadcast. Over 300 people booked tickets for the event. By doing this reading, the nurses claimed ownership of the text they commissioned while sharing their story with other Bedford citizens. This offered perspectives on local lived experience that are often unvoiced.