Hospital theatre: Promoting child well-being in cardiac and cancer wards

This article examines the delivery of a theatre initiative with child audiences in a hospital context. It reports on a mixed-method evaluation of a bedside site-specific performance at high-risk wards based in a Children’s Hospital, NHS Trust in England. It acknowledges the circumstances of the children and the conditions of the location, and examines the potential of supporting children during their stay in hospital through entertainment and relaxation. The article discusses the experiences of those who participated in the performance, including children, parents and guardians. It discusses the experience of taking theatre into health care, and the strengths and challenges of using a hospital space as a ‘stage’. It concludes that a synergy between the artist and the child is important to this type of intervention, seeking to provide children with both entertainment and relaxation as an important strategy for their well-being in hospital.