Things That Matter

BY GARY HENDERSON

adapted from the memoir by David Galler directed by Anapela Polata’ivao

Production Notes Company

Auckland Theatre Company

VENUE

ASB Waterfront Theatre

DURATION

2 hours, no interval

ADVISORY

This production discusses topics related to and displays images from the Holocaust

About The Play

Things That Matter was commissioned by Auckland Theatre Company and adapted by Gary Henderson from the memoir Things That Matter: Stories of Life & Death by Dr David Galler.

This new New Zealand play centres around Dr Rafal (Raf) Beckman, his medical team, and the patients in the intensive care unit at Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital.

While Raf juggles the pressures of running the ICU in the overcrowded and understaffed hospital with his role as an advisor to the Minister of Health, he also struggles with feelings of guilt towards his family, particularly his terminally ill mother, Roza, a Holocaust survivor.

As the play progresses, we learn about the pressing issues of our health system, from underfunding to systemic racism and how the staff and patients are affected. But Raf’s compassion towards his patients and their families never waivers and by the end of the play he learns to accept his own grief and loss.

Themes

Empathy and compassion are at the core of this play and explored through every theme.

Viewing Economy And Society Holistically

From the beginning of the play, it is clear the overcrowded and underfunded hospital is under financial strain. The budget for staff biscuits is cut and even Rafal’s beloved swimming pool is closed. The appearance of toxic black mould is used as a motif to explore the hospital’s slow decline.

Systemic Racism

The play explores systemic racism through the issue of obesity in Aotearoa and individual struggles with stereotypes and microaggressions in the fight between Ana and Edie.

Edie tells Ana she is frustrated when she cannot carry out a simple procedure on Seleni, a Samoan patient who is obese.

Ana is angry with Edie for stereotyping Seleni and all Samoan people as being obese. She tries to explain to Edie that the issue is more complicated and requires a holistic view. This conversation is further explored In Raf’s meetings with the Minister of Health about improving regulations to minimise obesity, especially in South Auckland.

Medical Responsibility

Things That Matter is a commentary on the flaws of the medical system as well as the humanity of the doctors and nurses who work extremely hard to save lives.

This responsibility weighs heavily on the staff, as seen in the toll of long shifts on Dev. Near the end of the play Dev and Raf discuss medical responsibility and Raf urges Dev to learn to trust his instinct and his medical experience.

Coming To Terms With Loss

Loss is explored through the three patients’ journeys at Middlemore Hospital. Raf and the medical staff must decide when to tell each family about the difficulties to come for their loved ones. The medical staff help each family to understand how to manage the steep road to recovery. One of the major battles for each family is finding a way to accept their grief by letting go and finding peace with what has happened.

At the same time Raf is processing the loss of his father Leon – who appears as his conscience throughout the play – and coming to terms with the inevitable loss of his terminally ill mother. By the end of the play with Roza’s passing, he sings the traditional Jewish song, the Mourner’s Kaddish, to help to let her go.

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