The Heavier Load

Matthew Anderson, an alumnus from the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, has written a new play which will debut at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden in June. The Heavier Load was written particularly for the cast of Copperleaf Productions and centres around a brother’s late night visit to his sister in a psychiatric ward of a hospital.

Speaking of his work, Matthew said:

“The brother-sister relationship isn’t portrayed in literature or theatre as often as other familial relationships but it’s a unique and interesting dynamic to explore. As we grow into adulthood our understandings of one another have the opportunity to change but they often remain the same as when we were much younger. The Heavier Load is an intimate story about siblings reconnecting and finding comfort in their shared memories and understandings of the world.”

Matthew graduated as a Mental Health nurse in 2011 and is now studying to be a Health Visitor, hoping to qualify in August. He continued:

“Being a nurse gives you a privileged position in people’s lives – you get an incredibly intimate view of people that most will never be afforded. The Heavier Load places the audience in that privileged position, viewing a very personal reunion, and the character of the nurse in the play actually helps the brother and sister to reconnect.”

The play will run from 12 - 17 June 2012.