Dogstar Theatre presents ‘Factor 9’ at Paisley Arts Centre.
Renfrewshire Arts & Museums are delighted to welcome Dogstar, one of Scotland’s leading theatre companies, to Paisley Arts Centre on 23 April with their powerful new production Factor 9 by Hamish MacDonald, from the testimonies of Bruce Norval and Robert Mackie.
Factor 9 is inspired by the story of the greatest healthcare disaster in the history of the NHS. Based on the lives, deaths and testimonies of some of those affected by treatment with contaminated blood, the multimedia play tells a horrific story of blighted lives, exploring the causes that allowed HIV, Hepatitis C and CJD infection to be spread among the community of blood product users.
30 years on from the first haemophiliac in the UK to die from AIDS due to contaminated blood products, the touring production is likely to coincide with the publication of the findings of the Penrose enquiry, set up by the Scottish Government and the first public Inquiry in Britain to investigate the causes and extent of contaminated blood products.
The play centres on two ordinary men’s extraordinary true stories. Rab (played by Stewart Porter) and Bruce (Matthew Zajac) are survivors of the disaster, both haemophiliacs and both infected with life-threatening illnesses through the prescribed use of contaminated products.
Rab is from the Scottish Borders and Bruce is from the Highlands. Both of these men, lovers of the great outdoors, have, with the support of their families and fellow haemophiliacs, battled with disease and with medical and political establishments to give themselves and the many thousands of other victims a voice, to be recognised as more than just product users or even subjects of scientific study, more than unfortunate individuals.
The play emerged from the lives of Rab and Bruce and from the nightmarish horror of non-consensual medical experiments which form a historical backdrop to the story. Factor 9 promises to be a powerful and visceral performance about a great contemporary tragedy.
www.dogstartheatre.co.uk / @dogstartheatre