A North Tyneside community theatre group has turned performance into a vehicle for public health discussion, confronting what it describes as medical misogyny and barriers to cancer care. The Workie Ticket CIC, based in North Shields, has used a small council-backed grant to stage workshops and a short play that focus on women's experiences of diagnosis, treatment and recovery.
Local theatre meets public health
The project, titled The C Project: Conversation, Cake, and Cancer, draws on drama and facilitated discussion to encourage people to speak about cancer symptoms, screening and the difficulties some women face when seeking medical help. It was funded with a £2,500 award from a pooled Cancer Awareness Grant, and the troupe say the aim is to make conversations about cancer more accessible and less stigmatous.
- Workshops offer a space for participants to share experiences and discuss barriers to care.
- A short monologue — performed by company co-director Ashlea Sanderson — was presented to councillors and public health representatives.
- The group is using real-life testimony and drama to highlight issues including vaccine scepticism, access to diagnosis and the wider family impact of cancer.
What was shown to councillors
Members of North Tyneside Council's health and wellbeing committee saw a reading of the monologue at a meeting held at the council's Cobalt headquarters. The piece was written by Jojo Kirtley, a co-artistic director and founder of The Workie Ticket CIC, and explores multiple facets of women's cancer journeys.
“There is a lot of medical misogyny that we have been looking into as well,”
The group also highlighted that, while public campaigns often target men’s lower levels of disclosure around cancer, women continue to face particular obstacles in receiving timely diagnoses and appropriate care.
Local implications and next steps
The project sits at the intersection of culture and community health, with organisers and public health officials using performance as a prompt for conversation and reflection. The company has indicated a desire to extend its work beyond women’s cancer and to provoke broader debate about how gendered experiences shape access to services.
| Project | Deliverable | Funding |
|---|---|---|
| The C Project | Workshops and a short play reading | £2,500 (Cancer Awareness Grant) |
For North Tyneside residents, the initiative underlines how local arts organisations can contribute to public health messaging, particularly on sensitive topics such as cancer. By combining testimony with theatrical techniques, the Workie Ticket CIC is seeking to change the way conversations about illness happen in communities and to press for better understanding of the particular challenges women face when navigating the health system.
