Stacey Gregg: restless writer whose scripts fizz with tricky questions

“I find it hard to switch off,” admits Stacey Gregg. “The great thing about writing is that you are free to write about anything, to grapple with what’s happening in the world.” For the Belfast-born playwright, that might be issues of science, law, ethics and much more. Her monologue Scorch, inspired by real-life cases of “gender fraud”, is out on tour. The 2013 play Override, in which she explored an alternative near future, has just been given a sharp new production at the Tiger Dublin fringe festival. And Gregg is one of seven playwrights responding to issues around conception and birth in an upcoming international festival at the Royal Exchange in Manchester.

At 33, Gregg has already written six plays, and is under commission from the Royal Court, Clean Break and the Abbey theatre. Our Skype conversation is interrupted by bursts of laughter as she talks at speed, emanating the restless energy that has enabled her to alternate between writing plays, film and TV scripts, with acting stints in between.

Scorch, which won a Fringe First award at the Edinburgh festival last month, was written in response to recent court cases in the UK. “These were cases taken by women who had been deceived into thinking they were having a sexual relationship with a man, but discovered that their partner was a woman or, in one case, a trans man. The accusations were of ‘gender fraud’, which for me is a contested term. I thought that the media coverage sensationalised these cases, and this drove me to try to communicate the questions they raised in a more complex way.”

Amy McAllister in Scorch at the Edinburgh festival. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

Initially envisaging it as a TV script, Gregg reworked Scorch as a stage play, which she performed herself, before handing it over to the Northern Irish company Prime Cut. Directed by Emma Jordan, it was produced as part of the Outburst Queer Arts festival in Belfast last autumn. Poignantly performed by Amy McAllister, the solo piece captures the confusion of a teenage girl called Kes who wants to be a boy, and begins an online relationship with a young woman who assumes that Kes is male. The virtual world seems perfect to Kes, allowing her the freedom to present herself as she wants to be.

“It’s about the limitations of language, and of access to language. Kes doesn’t have words for her feelings,” she says. “I’m interested in responses to the play, its interpretation as a trans piece, because that seems to ignore aspects of lesbian sexuality. It is as if butch lesbians have gone away – they haven’t – and now we can only talk about this in terms of a medicalised idea of transition from one gender to another.”

Override examines what happens to relationships when people use technology to enhance or augment their bodies. It fizzes with ideas about biohacking, prosthetic envy and robotics. Its central questions are philosophical, to do with human perfectibility and utopianism. “All of that, and how to be authentic,” Gregg says, “and the continuum we are on when we introduce wearable technology. And our online and offline selves – the difference between me, born analogue, and those 10 years younger than me, digital natives. I’m a bit obsessed with all this.”

‘How to be authentic’ … Matti Houghton in Override at Watford Palace. Photograph: Manuel Harlan

Medical interventions into conception and birth and questions about access to reproductive technology are among the themes of a season of performances and debates at Manchester’s Royal Exchange next month. Gregg is one of seven female playwrights from around the world who have been commissioned to respond to the theme in the Birth festival. The plays will subsequently tour. Her solo piece, Choice, interweaves two stories – one of a British woman who is trying to conceive by IVF and one of an Irish woman travelling to England for an abortion. The piece will be performed by Gregg herself. “It’s difficult to describe the form it’s taking, but it is developed from workshops and research, and will be lo-fi. What’s emerging from all of the writers is the global inequality relating to women’s experience of birth.”

Gregg is the representative writer from the UK in this international programme. Moving between Dublin, Belfast and London, she enjoys what she calls her dual citizenship. “Dublin has been good to me. Rough Magic Theatre Company’s Seeds programme was the start, and then the Abbey theatre gave me my first break, for which I’m really grateful.” Her first full-length play, Perve – a prescient work tackling the sexualisation of children and the pervasiveness of pornography – was produced by the Abbey in 2011, followed last year by Shibboleth, which took a chaotically satirical view of Belfast’s peace walls.

Having grown up in Belfast in the aftermath of the Troubles, Gregg left the city to study English at Cambridge, where she narrowly avoided being sent down and was acutely aware of her working-class roots. This was followed by an MA in documentary film-making in London. She is increasingly drawn to writing about Northern Ireland, with a number of her plays set there – Ismene, Huzzies, Shibboleth – as well as two feature films in the pipeline. Her impulse is not only towards her native place, but also to her family background, captured in the class tensions of Huzzies, her comic play for Tinderbox Theatre in 2012 about a no-hoper Belfast rock band.

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Stacey Gregg on her play for Birth

Currently developing a new play with the performance artist Deborah Pearson for Clean Break, the theatre company that works with women in the criminal justice system, she says: “I want to write about the working poor and women in prison in a way that is not voyeuristic, but empowering.” Breaking new ground, experimenting with dramatic forms, Gregg is racing ahead, her antennae leading her towards performance art. “I’m more and more interested in live art, visual art – people like Kathy Acker or the Gob Squad, artists who combine philosophy and a kind of punk aesthetic, these attract me. I’m learning all the time – it’s hard, and it might involve failure. But I’d much rather see a mess than something that is well finished but has nothing to say, no ideas.”

Stacey Gregg: restless writer whose scripts fizz with tricky questions

Whose fault is it that care employees can"t talk English?

The government cut funding for about one hundred,000 men and women on cash flow support and housing advantage to assist them learn English. Photograph: Rex Features

A contemporary British situation final week as a BBC presenter known as Husain interviewed an academic referred to as Hussein on the UK’s flagship current affairs present about the relevance of folks whose origins lie elsewhere becoming capable to communicate excellent English. In the US, one may well not even remark on such a thing, but right here a minority presenter and a minority academic are unusual in isolation. To have paths collide is like peering out of the attic and seeing an eclipse.

The subject was the vocabulary of care workers and the proposition fully sensible. Dr Shereen Hussein, a scientific adviser to the Division of Wellness, advised Mishal Husain on Today that recruitment companies must ensure care staff can speak English before placing them in vulnerable people’s homes. Investigation by King’s College London suggests that a fifth of care employees are migrants. The government is on the situation. Ample communication expertise will be a prerequisite for these who want to acquire the new care certificate. Can not argue with that. There are a great deal of foreign languages currently being spoken right here.

In accordance to examination of the 2011 census by authorities at the centre of the dynamics of ethnicity at Manchester University, 8% of the population of England and Wales reported a major language other than English or Welsh. By far the language most commonly spoken that wasn’t English was Polish. A quite distant second was Punjabi, then Bengali, then Urdu, then Gujarati. Of course, that does not indicate all people individuals lack passable English. When we are currently being relaxed, rather than anxious, we may possibly see them as bilingual. Nevertheless, there is no acquiring away from it: it truly is irritating when a service supplier – in a shop or institution, or at the end of a telephone line – can not recognize or make themselves understood. So the government ought to be pushing at an open door on this one particular.

But hold on. Wind back. A single of the very first factors this government did was to make it much more challenging for migrants who might offer these vital services to understand English. About a hundred,000 people on “inactive” advantages this kind of as revenue support and housing benefit – three-quarters of them girls – lost government funding for English for speakers of other language courses (Esol).

A lot of of them would be/could be the extremely care employees we need to have to do people arduous jobs whilst speaking that best English. It seemed short-sighted back in 2011. It seems dim-witted now.

Whose fault is it that care employees can"t talk English?

Oscar Knox, the brave five-12 months-outdated whose battle against cancer moved 1000"s, dies

His family’s fundraising appeal raised the £250,000 needed to spend for immunotherapy remedy in America and his mothers and fathers set up the Twitter account to enable family and pals to obtain updates on his progress. The account quickly acquired thousands of followers.

The political leaders led the tributes following information of Oscar’s death. Mr Robinson said his ideas and prayers have been with his mother and father and sister Isobella.

“Their sense of reduction and devastation is immeasurable,” he explained.

“When I met Oscar I was struck by his infinite vitality and sense of exciting. He had a great capability to conquer the problems he and his loved ones faced together.

“Oscar was an amazing small boy who lived his life to the total and filled those close to him with admiration and hope. He will be deeply missed by absolutely everyone who met and loved him.”

Mr McGuinness stated: “Oscar touched the hearts and minds of everybody and inspired numerous folks by way of his constructive mindset and resilience.

“The day Oscar and his loved ones visited Stormont was one of my most uplifting days in politics and you couldn’t assist but be enthused by his vibrancy and spirit.

“Oscar was a small warrior who faced down sickness and setbacks and showed all of us how precious daily life is.”

Oscar was an enthusiastic Celtic supporter but his campaign was also backed strongly by Glasgow Rangers fans – a measure of the boy’s capacity to unite.

When Celtic played Belfast side Cliftonville in Glasgow final summer time in a Champions League qualifier Oscar was the crew mascot.

Celtic chief executive Peter Lawwell mentioned: “This is totally devastating information and our thoughts and prayers are with Oscar’s mothers and fathers, Stephen and Leona, and his small sister, Izzie, at this desperately sad time.

“We can not even start to recognize the soreness of their loss, but I hope that there will be a modest measure of consolation in realizing that there was real love and affection for Oscar from the Celtic family members during the world.

“Oscar’s courage throughout his sickness was really inspirational, and it was a real pleasure for everyone at the club to meet Oscar when he was our team mascot last July.

“This is a very sad day for the Celtic loved ones but, much more importantly, for the Knox family members, and our thoughts and prayers are with them right now.”

Oscar Knox, the brave five-12 months-outdated whose battle against cancer moved 1000"s, dies

Whose NHS is ideal? It truly is the wrong question | Andy McKeon

‘The English NHS seems to be very likely to hit the fiscal buffers soon the Welsh reduce in overall health spending may be a lesson in what can happen’ Photograph: Alamy

Criticism of the Welsh NHS is a common sport for English ministers. David Cameron will take typical pot shots at longer waiting occasions and a failure to hit A&ampE targets. To the politically cynical it seems like a straightforward try to brand Labour, which governs in Wales, as a celebration that cannot handle the NHS.

It may possibly also be an attempt to present that the “English” technique to managing the NHS, with the development of a market, competitors and a selection of personal, voluntary and other suppliers, is making much better final results than that in Wales, which abolished the “inner” marketplace in 2009 and can make little use of personal suppliers.

Not remarkably, Welsh ministers react in variety. In February the wellness minister, Mark Drakeford, referred to as the English NHS “a shambles”. Cameron threw the identical phrase back final week, only to be accused by Wales’s very first minister, Carwyn Jones, of turning into obsessed.

But beneath the yah-boo froth of politics, what is the reality of comparisons across the Uk, and what does it indicate for the potential of the NHS?

The Nuffield Believe in and the Health Foundation these days published the final results of an independent investigation into overall performance of the four Uk countries over the past 15 years since devolution started. On the indicators accessible, three key factors emerge.

First, devolution has brought different selections about funding ranges, priorities and targets. Yes, patients wait longer in Wales, and in Northern Ireland, partly simply because the targets set had been significantly less demanding than those for England. Waiting times substantially lengthened in Wales after 2010 (they also have in England, but only a small) as austerity set in and the Welsh government, alone amongst the 4 nations, made a decision not to shield NHS spending but to reduce it by roughly one% a 12 months in money terms.

2nd, more standard measures of performance in regions this kind of as the number of preventable deaths and stroke care display Wales moving in line with England but not closing the historical gap. Certainly, this is also true of Northern Ireland. On other indicators in the report the longer-term trend across the 4 countries is 1 of improvement and convergence, even if historical differences stay. But then inequality gaps have proved notoriously difficult to shut in England.

Third, Scotland’s functionality on waiting times, and other areas, matches that of England, possessing been significantly worse in the early 2000s. It abolished the purchaser-supplier split in 2004 and tends to make minor use of the personal sector, but it crucially introduced much more exacting targets backed up by tougher functionality management.

The message from this examine is that targets and overall performance management, which all four nations use, function. But outside this, what ever the selected approach to construction and governance the total rate of improvement in healthcare seems to be broadly related.

Making use of these comparators it is clear that the effect so far of competition in England has been overhyped – both approaches. It has neither been as good or as unfavorable as individuals on either side of the argument portray. Maybe it will in the potential, but the jury is out.

There are deeper troubles at work to which politicians in all 4 countries would do properly to pay out interest.

The top quality, amount and stability of employees at a neighborhood level is critical. The report demonstrates that the north-east has created important progress on enhancing healthcare. It has had much more funds over the previous decade than several other English locations and so has much more medical doctors and nurses. But it also has a much more secure, substantial-high quality workforce than, say, London and the south-east, assisted by nationwide pay charges. Troubles of recruitment and retention, such as relative pay, numbers and capabilities, all demand much more interest nationally than they at the moment receive.

Supporting the workforce is also critical. Politicians like to have battles to battle to demonstrate their reforming zeal. But most progress for patients will be achieved by spreading studying of what performs, generating sure every person from ministers and professionals are functioning to the identical objectives, and measuring the outcomes that matter most to patients. This is how care for the growing number of frail elderly men and women and these with continual illnesses will be improved. Fiscal wheezes, incentives and reorganising management structures will largely be at the margins.

Last but not least, money issues. The English NHS seems likely to hit the financial buffers soon the Welsh lower in overall health spending over the past three years may be a lesson in what can occur. Continued zero real-terms growth in wellness investing for the following five many years will surely see a deteriorating and crisis-ridden NHS.

Whose NHS is ideal? It truly is the wrong question | Andy McKeon

Boy whose mom attempted to halt cancer remedy recovering well

Sally Roberts fought her nearby wellness authority’s determination to administer radiotherapy to her son, Neon. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

A mom who lost a substantial court fight to try out to quit her eight-year-outdated son acquiring remedy for cancer has stated he is hunting forward to going back to college.

Sally Roberts said Neon was recovering and his “spirits had been up”, and he would go back to school when he was strong ample right after the completion of radiotherapy.

Roberts, 38, misplaced a legal battle final 12 months to end her son receiving radiotherapy treatment, which she believed would cause Neon to suffer lengthy-phrase harm, soon after the removal of the tumour in October 2012. Doctors argued that her son would die inside of 3 months if he did not get the treatment method.

Following the ruling, Roberts, who was then residing in Devon, and her son disappeared but were located 4 days later on.

“I’m amazingly proud of Neon and he’s dealt with every little thing incredibly effectively and undertaking okay. Now that the treatment’s finished he is generating a recovery,” Roberts told BBC 5 Dwell. “He’s not fairly as lively as his twin sister but he is an amazing small boy and his spirits are up and he’s dealt with every thing so well. I am so proud.

“[He will go back to college] when he is feeling strong adequate. He is really pale and doesn’t appear that excellent at the moment and I feel he has to get his self confidence and strength back.

“He wants to go back but we are not going to make him do anything at all he does not want to do soon after the year he has just had.”

Roberts, a New Zealander living in Brighton, East Sussex, said Neon had no notion of the legal fight and the curiosity produced in his case. “I consider we’ll talk about it later on on when the time comes when it’s proper,” she explained. “He has no concept … he had an inkling that mummy wasn’t so keen but I never spoke about it or induced a fuss in front of him.”

Roberts stated she nonetheless believed there have been option therapies offered for her son but explained a current scan had proven there had been no indicators of the cancer returning.

“Quickly soon after the tumour … he was feeling quite negative and his co-ordination has never ever been fairly the very same and his power, he is really weak,” she stated.

“The treatment method genuinely took it out of him. He’d begin to truly feel much better then every 6 weeks he’d have to go in for a lot more chemotherapy.

“After the radiation, the look of Neon, that was not the seem of cancer simply because he was cancer-free of charge at that stage, that was the seem of the treatment.

“I feel exactly the same as a yr in the past – thrilled. That is what I want to make clear is that he was cancer-free a year ago, which is why I was towards the treatment method a year in the past since I think radiation as a precautionary measure is harsh.

“If they are using these typical treatments why are not they, like Germany, utilizing an integrated technique to support the immune system at a time when it is so severely compromised?”

Roberts said she had been “vilified” by the public as a outcome of the publicity surrounding Neon’s situation.

“If it was accurate that I took my son out of hospital and ran off and was not doing anything for him and depriving him of lifestyle-saving remedy, then fair sufficient,” she explained. “Regrettably I was entirely misrepresented. I was by no means against typical treatment.

“I needed the very best therapy for my son and I did not believe at that time radiation was required because he was previously cancer-free.

“The alarm bells rang when I was in the hospital studying the letter the doctor gave me which said one of the prolonged-term side results is secondary cancers and that very a lot scared me.”

She extra: “I search forward to a fantastic, enjoyable, extended life with Neon and his sister Electra.”

Boy whose mom attempted to halt cancer remedy recovering well

Woman whose brain was injected with glue to receive multimillion-pound damages payout

These days, Judge Birtles at London’s Large Court accepted a settlement against Fantastic Ormond Street Hospital For Young children NHS Trust of a £2.eight million lump sum, plus £383,000 a year until Maisha is 19, escalating to £423,000 per 12 months for as extended as she lives, which some specialists count on to be to the age of 64.

The trust, which admitted liability for Maisha’s injuries, repeated its unreserved apologies for the shortcomings in her care, which had this kind of devastating consequences.

It mentioned her family had engaged open-heartedly with the trust, which had permitted employees to genuinely discover from what occurred to Maisha so that improvements could be created.

Neil Block QC, stated: “We can’t wind the clock back. We hope there are now systems and procedures in place to make sure such a tragic error can not be produced yet again.

“While money cannot restore what Maisha has lost, we are sure a fantastic burden has been lifted from the family by coming to the settlement we have.”

He explained 1 could not support but be inspired by what Maisha’s mothers and fathers, Sadir Hussain and Rukshana, had attained in terms of their 13-12 months-previous daughter’s rehabilitation.

“It is almost certainly the most intensive cognitive rehabilitation we have ever seen by a family and we would want to acknowledge almost everything they have carried out for Maisha and wish them properly for the future.”

The judge extended his sympathy and admiration to the loved ones and explained he hoped the compensation would make the rest of Maisha’s life as cozy as feasible.

Outdoors court, Maisha’s father, of Ilford, Essex, mentioned: ” We are sad and devastated by what occurred to our daughter. Her daily life is ruined. All her dreams have been broken.

“I hope that by bringing this case, lessons will have been discovered to keep away from this taking place to other families.

“We are grateful that agreement has been reached with Fantastic Ormond Street to make sure that Maisha’s care wants are met.”

The compensation will be spent on care and accommodation for Maisha, who requirements assistance with all every day tasks day and night, is in a wheelchair and has misplaced the vast majority of her bodily and cognitive capabilities.

Ms Rawson mentioned: “What is so heart-breaking about this situation is that the damage was so avoidable.

“If the syringes had been marked-up so the hospital could see which contained glue and which contained dye, then Maisha would not have suffered what is an utterly devastating brain injury. This kind of effortlessly avoidable mistakes ought to not take place.”

Woman whose brain was injected with glue to receive multimillion-pound damages payout