Nye - Visualise and Enunciate

Nye is the story of Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan, the UK Government Minister for Health who setup the National Health Service (NHS) on the 5th July 1948. Written by Tim Price and starring Michael Sheen, I thoroughly enjoyed this National Theatre production.

Aneurin Bevan grew up in Monmouthshire and became the MP for Ebbw Vale. Although his name is well known, in Wales at least, the story is perhaps less known. The play starts with the Nye late in his life where he had seen the start of the NHS. It covers his early life at school, through work in the community and later his time as MP. It is the story of a person moved by fairness for people. It covers the struggles to start the NHS - both within parliament and with the medical profession.

One scene covers a discussion between Nye and his friend about his stammer - and problems with words containing the letter 's'. The scene celebrates the library as a community resource that helps people to learn and grow. With a wonderful visualisation of how this can make people feel, we see Nye learn ways to express himself, with words that aren't as difficult for him to say. The play uses the words 'visualise' and 'enunciate' to show that growth and they fit for the theme of the play.

The whole cast deserves credit for its role in bringing this story to life. Most of the cast take on different roles, including people in hospitals, in schools, in meetings, the library, as family members and members of parliament. The staging is inventive, creating different spaces with hospital curtains and beds, embedding health in each scene.

The play has been at the National Theatre in London in May 2024 and also at the Millennium Centre in Cardiff until 1st June 2024. It has also been broadcast on NT Live to cinemas, with performances continuing at different venues through June 2024; checkout the times at nye.ntlive.com.