The Old Vic today announced that Olivier Award winner Sharon D Clarke will be performing First, Do No Harm on 5 July as part of The Greatest Wealth series curated by Lolita Chakrabarti to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, as part of Your Old Vic.
In 2018, The Old Vic commissioned and presented a series of monologues to mark the 70th anniversary of the NHS, curated by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Adrian Lester.
Spanning each decade since the creation of the NHS, all eight of the existing monologues have been released every Thursday on The Old Vic’s YouTube channel. Writers have included Moira Buffini, Lolita Chakrabarti, Seiriol Davies, Matilda Ibini, Courttia Newland, Meera Syal, Jack Thorne and Paul Unwin.
Written by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, First, Do No Harm, is a brand new commission in this series for 2020 to mark the dedication of those in the service at this time of national crisis.
English actress and singer Sharon D Clarke has played roles in many West End musicals from We Will Rock You and Ghost the Musical to Death Of A Salesman for which she won the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress. You may also recognise her from her TV roles in Holby City and Doctor Who.
In 2019, she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Caroline in the 2018 West End production of Caroline, or Change, a role she is set to reprise on Broadway.
Bernardine Evaristo said: ‘I welcomed the challenge of writing about the NHS, hugely enjoyed working with the team behind it, and love the casting of Sharon D Clarke, whose amazing career I have followed for decades. Writing about the NHS made me reflect very deeply on what an incredible asset it is for us in Britain. Long may it look after our health care!’
We can’t wait to see Sharon in action! Tune into the special feature on YouTube on Sunday 5 July at 7pm, to coincide with the NHS’ 72nd birthday.