The Dissemination of Responsibility: Exploring the Audience as Bystander in Theatre

This study focuses on finding how theatrical technique and process changes when the audience is reframed as bystanders. I hoped to find ways that theatre artists could fight against the bystander effect in life by bringing it into our theatres. The study was written in conjunction with a production of Nine by Jane Shepard. Nine is a piece about two women who are imprisoned. The audience does not know where they are, how long they have been there, or who has taken them—just that they are regularly raped and tortured. The play is treated as a focal point for my work around the bystander effect. Through an analysis of the theatrical techniques used in Nine we are able to frame the audience as bystander from the point of view of the actors and director. The audience’s own view of themselves is less significant to that of the director and cast, because change in the theatre starts with us, the artists. Throughout the study Brecht’s theory of the alienated spectator and Boal’s theory of the spect-actor are both used to demonstrate ways in which the bystander effect takes hold in theatrical audiences

Preventable hand injuries: A national audit

Summary: Little is known of the scale of avoidable injuries presenting to medical services on a national level in the UK. This study aimed to assess the type and incidence of preventable wrist and hand injuries (as defined by the core research team) at a national level in the UK. 28 UK hospitals undertook a service evaluation of all hand trauma cases presenting to their units over a 2 week period in early 2021 identifying demographical and aetiological information about injuries sustained. 1909 patients were included (184 children) with a median age of 40 (IQR 25-59) years. The commonest five types of injury were fractures of the wrist; single phalangeal or metacarpal fractures; fingertip injuries; and infection, with the most common mechanisms being mechanical falls and manual labour. This is the first extensive survey of preventable hand injuries in the UK, identifying a need for further work into prevention to reduce healthcare burden and cost. 50% of injuries presenting to hand surgeons are preventable, with the most common injuries being single fractures of the wrist, phalanx and metacarpal. Few preventable injuries were related to alcohol or narcotic intoxication. Further research is needed to identify how to initiate injury prevention measures for hand injuries, particularly focussed towards hand fracture prevention