Written by former GP Farine Clarke, Heartsink is a brand-new play about a doctor that becomes a patient. Advertised as a medical comedy, Heartsink follows Dr Jeffrey Longford (Aden Gillett), who finds out he is terminally ill, and he has to deal with the sudden shift from clinician to uncertain patient. He is used to being the one with the answers and helping others, but has his life flipped upside down to be on the other side of the waiting room; his devoted colleague, Dr Roofi (Vikash Bhai), is the one to give him the diagnosis and help him navigate his way through this uncertain time.
We watch as Dr Longford strikes up an unlikely ‘friendship' with Suzie (Megan Marszal), a sharp-tongued receptionist at the Cancer Clinic. The two end up helping each other realise their faults and potentials. The playful ‘banter' between the two characters is one of the key parts of the humour that laces through the emotional, sensitive themes of the show. Marszal played the character of Suzie sharply and confidently. I feel like out of all the characters, she had the most layers to her.
Cara, played by Derry Girls' Kathy Kiera Clarke, pulled the audience in from the first scene too, with her strange, witty conversation with Dr Longford, which appeared even more funny with the way her facial expressions seemed so serious. The first scene began with her trying to tempt Dr Longford to try her carrot cake and learn its recipe, and in a cyclical turn, the play also ends in this way, but with Cara and Dr Roofi with the carrot cake. It would have been nicer to see more of Cara's character in the play; she only appeared in two scenes with Dr Longford, and the gap between her second scene with him felt too long.
The simplicity of the set with the chairs and desk felt effective in portraying the clinic, and I enjoyed the way the scenes were shifted with the use of sudden darkness, and the cast moving the chairs or desk so we knew whether we were in the Cancer Clinic waiting room, or in Dr Longford's or Dr Roofi's surgery room.
I did feel like a lot of scenes could have been shortened to allow for Cara's character to be more present, and for perhaps the four characters to interact more. One scene in particular, with Dr Longford and Suzie going back-and-forth with whether ‘doctor' should be a title of a patient, went on for too long in my opinion, and for a play that is only 80 minutes run time, shortening this scene would have allowed for other developments in the plot to be shaped out. For example, it would have been interesting to have more characters with Dr Longford's family, particularly his wife, who is mentioned numerous times. This felt like a big part of the storyline (of him not telling his wife he is ill) but didn't feel fully fledged without her character actually in the play. Director Sean Turner did a brilliant job in many elements, but the production could have been stronger with shorter scenes, a longer runtime, and a few more characters.
However, this emotional play doesn't fall short on challenging the way individuals are labelled by their conditions, and even brings in political discussions on the ethics of assisted dying, race, and age in the medical profession, and the increased prominence of AI. It incorporates these controversial topics, with sharp, sensitive humour, and compelling, interesting characters. While I wouldn't necessarily brand it as solely a ‘medical comedy', it certainly does blend humour with strong emotional insight, and shines a light on what happens when the contrasting worlds of the patient and doctor collide.
Overall, despite this play slightly falling short with its depth of plot and the somewhat lack of a strong presence of comedy, this play did excel with its strong characters and the powerful way it brought in sensitive topics in a witty, entertaining way.
Heartsink is playing at Riverside Studios until 10th May 2026.
Review: -Louise Scott-Lapish Photo: Tristram Kenton