An interview with Chris Pointon, Hello My Name Is…

Commissioned by St Gemma’s Hospice in Leeds, Hello My Name Is… tells the story of consultant geriatrician Dr Kate Granger, who passed away shortly before her 35th birthday, and the Hello My Name Is… campaign she started with her husband, Chris Pointon.

When Kate became a patient herself, she looked at the health professionals from the patient’s point of view, rather than as a doctor and came to really understand the confusion felt by many patients when they are at their most vulnerable – and the Hello My Name Is… campaign began there.

We had a chat with Chris about working with Brian, his reasons for wanting to create a play that told the story of Hello My Name Is… and the impact the play has had.

Can you talk us through your first meeting with Brian and why you wanted to work with him to create Hello My Name Is...?

I met Brian back in 2018, and that was an initial meeting to discuss the potential for producing and writing a play based on the story of my late wife Dr Kate Granger, our life together, and the Hello My Name Is… campaign, which we started back in 2013.

In that first meeting with Brian, we hit it off from the start and it was very positive. I could tell that he was someone who would be good to work with, not only for the play but for the campaign of Hello My Name Is… too. I had been to see a couple of his plays beforehand, so I knew the style he wrote in and the kind of writer he is.

Brian put me at ease in the first meeting and throughout the whole process. He reassured me that nothing would be in the play that I wasn’t comfortable with, he would only speak to people who wanted to be spoken to and were comfortable with what he was doing, and that I would have full sign-off of the play before it was shown to the public. So, I was very comfortable from the beginning.

How did you work with Brian to shape the narrative of the play?

Kate was very prolific across social media, so I sent Brian a huge amount of information - be it social media feeds or copies of the books she’d written. And with Kate not being here anymore, I thought this was important, so he could fully immerse himself in who Kate was to represent her on stage.

Then from my side, he asked who would be good to go and approach so he could speak to them, I gave him a list of people and off he went.

We worked together to work out how we wanted the play to start, what we wanted the main impact for the audience to be, and how the play would finish. After that we had bi-weekly meetings face-to-face or email and phone calls for updates on where he was with researching and writing.

The play deals with such a devastating topic for you personally, but also a topic which is hard for other people who have lost loved ones, why did you want to tell this story?

The reason why I was so positive about wanting the play to be written and performed is threefold. Firstly, by sharing our story I wanted to help other people who might be experiencing the loss of a partner or loved one, which is where Brian was coming from as well.

Secondly, it was helping to spread the message of the Hello My Name Is... campaign across a wider audience. I’ve done many talks across the country and across the world about the campaign, but there’s only one of me so by having a play going alongside the campaign, this meant we could reach a wider audience and spread the word further.

And the third part was, we were doing it to raise money for St Gemma’s Hospice, which is where Kate died but who also commissioned the play, and they benefit from the play being shown which is great as a donation is made to the hospice for each performance

I’ll always be eternally grateful to them for how the last few days of Kate’s life was – and I’m glad that as long as the play runs, they will benefit too.

Can you remember your reaction when you saw the play for the first time?

We had the first performance of the play to a small, select group of individuals – I was there, my Mum was there and some people from St Gemma’s Hospice. That was probably the time I got the most emotional watching the play because it was watching the story of my life - and mine and Kate’s life - for the first time.

I try to get to as many performances as I can, and a lot of people ask me that question: how can you sit there and watch it? Because normally the audience at the end of the performance are in tears, and I think it helped that I was able to see it with a small group first. And although the play is sad, there are moments of comedy and normal life too, which is what we wanted.

Are there any powerful reactions from audience members that you remember?

A lot of people do get emotional, and I think the reason for that is it touches everyone in some shape or form.  

We use music in the play, and the song which plays at the end of the play is ‘Annie’s Song’ by John Denver – and I remember this touched one audience member. She came up to me at the end of the play and said that it was her previous partner’s favourite song and they had sadly passed away.

And for me, it just shows that the play is making a difference.

Do you feel there is an increasing recognition about the importance of personal connection in times of illness?

I think it should be recognised that it’s important to have personal connection during times of illness, because it’s one of the most private and personal parts of your life is your own body.

And when people are sticking needles into you or going into hospital to have surgery or having chemotherapy, there’s a lot of processes that are performed that isn’t a normal thing to be happening to you in day-to-day life. So, I think having that human connection from the start really does help, and helps people understand that it’s two human beings communicating with each other.

The Hello My Name Is… campaign is, first and foremost, all about that simple introduction at the beginning of that long-term conversation or process that someone is going through.

And I do really think that the campaign at the time was needed – and it was shame that it was needed. It’s needed even more now given what we’ve all been through in the last two years with Covid and isolation - and needing to reconnect as individuals and making the most of a simple introduction.

If there’s anyone reading this interview who has a story to tell about health and social care but is maybe feeling nervous about sharing their story, what advice would you give them?

My advice would be split into two parts.

One, if the question was more around would you want your story to be made into a play written by Brian – or somebody else – then I would encourage it as long as you’re comfortable seeing the outcome and feel ready.

When Brian approached me about the play it was the right time for me. It was 18 months after Kate had died, and it was in a period where I was on a career break from work and talking about the campaign, it was in a time where I was keeping really busy because that was my way of coping with what had happened, and it meant I could immerse myself in the creation of the play.

On the flipside, if you’re sharing your story through social media or other forms of media, my advice would be, be prepared that you will hear from people who have been in a similar position to yourself and want to talk about what they went through. If you’re happy to talk about what you went through, then that’s fine, but for some people, they might want to share but wouldn’t be comfortable or ready to talk about it openly.

Everyone is different and has a different process for grief and opening up, so you’ve got to think long and hard about what might happen and what you’re ready to deal with, because you’ve got to be at the right stage in your process.

If people did want to share their story specifically with Brian to explore the potential of it becoming a play, I’d also add that Brian is a well-regarded playwright across the industry and all the plays that I’ve been to that he’s written, he puts the individuals at the centre of his process. You are listened to, and your ideas and views are taken into account.

I’m grateful for how he wrote the play and how he performs the play (because most of the time he plays me!) and for being a genuinely nice individual who is doing what he does to make a difference. He wants to share stories to help so I would recommend Brian to anyone.

If you would like to discuss your health and social care story, you can get in touch with Brian here.