The Most Serious Ailments of St Krank's

Perhaps it’s no surprise that artists are increasingly looking towards history as an access point to alternatives for current crises, scrambling frantically to get a hold of something idealistic and real. The danger, of course, is that work which does this runs the risk of seeming conservative in its sentimentality. Babolin’s The Most Serious Ailments of St Krank’s is a madcap tale of life and death, but looks to the past so frequently that it gets lost in schmultz and old-fashioned whimsy.

Promising quirky operatics, “surgical shanties” and direction by Little Bulb’s Al Scott, this is a show which should be tight in its control of chaos. Unfortunately, the script (co-written by Scott and Richard Fredman) feels like its been tossed about on the high seas. Following the upper-class Widget and his attempts to become a doctor against all odds in the nautical St Krank’s hospital, it longs for an Edwardian England with its end-of-the-pier shows and apparently incessant optimism.

There are some enjoyable a cappella compositions by Tom Penn delivered beautifully by the cast, and there are occasions when the show feels like it could have something interesting to say. The overall effect, however, is one of a show of trying far too hard to be quirky, and any politics underlying the piece remain unexamined or uninteresting.

At best, this is a half-arsed comment on the destruction of the NHS. At worst, it’s as shambolic as the public health policy of the current government.