Theatre Interview: Sam Harry Macgregor actor and writer from Hold The Line at Nottingham Arts Theatre

So, what can audiences expect from Hold The Line?

They can expect a bit of humour, but also some intense scenes, involved with some very high stakes medical scenarios, then some very, very light audience participation. There are quieter moments, but it’s fast paced, scene to scene.

Why did you write about NHS 111?

Well, I work for NHS 111, I've worked there for nearly six years. I started in Covid back up in Newcastle in 2020. There's so many interesting stories there. Although I never set out to write about them. It was only after a couple of calls at work that I thought this would be interesting. For the outsider to see, like a fly on the wall, the day-to-day experience of being a 111 call handler. Just being in that office. Because it goes from the mundane to ordinary people dealing with such high stakes things. I thought, everyone loves a medical drama. It’s not a medical play per se, but there's medical elements to it. And I thought I've never seen a play about this. Nothing on TV about it. Wouldn’t it be cool to start writing stuff and see what happens.

It's drawn from real life?

Some yeah, but it’s not literally ‘this was me on one shift’. This play is set on one particularly bad shift. Some of the main plots are taken from me being in the call centre, sat next to someone who was dealing with something particularly high stakes, and that was interesting, and very, very, emotional. It's not necessarily scene for scene how it happened, but it's all pretty much real content with names and situations changed for obvious reasons.

Hold The Line was a great success at the Edinburgh Fringe. How do you go about getting a play on the Edinburgh Fringe?

We had a great run at the fringe. It wasn't my first time at the fringe, I took my debut show to the fringe a couple of years ago. Second time round, I’d learned a lot from the first time. I knew how to have an effective run. We sold out over half of the run, which was pretty good.

But to get a show on at the Fringe is pretty tricky. There's numerous venues that you could approach, I went with the Pleasance Theatre, because I did my debut play with them. If you can invite them to see some of your work, that’s handy. I invited one of their programmers to see an early draft.

Then we went up for the Charlie Hartill Fund, which is basically with the Pleasance Theatre. It gives you the full bells and whistles to take a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and has to be a minimum of four actors. That’s why I originally wrote it for five people. We didn't win it, but I pre-empted not winning it (because it's very competitive) and rewrote it for two people, and then the costs are significantly easier.

What are your views on the NHS’ future?

I mean, obviously, funding is a big one. I just think ultimately, we need more medical staff. Even where I work, in the call centre, they need more clinical staff. More money for staff would be probably, a massive help. During Covid, they opened all these Nightingale hospitals. What happened to them? 

Did they even exist?

I mean, they spent billions on PPE. PPE was necessary to some extent. But I mean, there's this whole thing about where money can be spent on some things, but it's not going to be spent on something else. Initially, when the NHS started, people's health needs were probably not as complex as now. People didn't live as long back then. Today, people are living longer, there's more complex health needs, thanks to modern medicines, which are all great things, obviously. So, that's one obvious strain on the NHS. But, if you knew that's an inevitable thing that's going to happen, then surely this service needs more money and more attention?

Are you an actor who writes or a writer who acts? 

An actor who writes. I only started writing because I was getting rejected from a lot of acting jobs. Okay, I take it on the chin. Like, if I wasn't getting rejected, I would never have started writing. People like my writing, people like my acting. I started writing some little things years ago. And then I moved to London and got on a couple of scratch nights. Because, about this time in Newcastle, there were barely any new writing nights because there's only a couple of theatres. It's not as big as it is in London. There are so many pub theatres in London, I found myself getting accepted onto these scratch nights. And that kicked off the whole reaffirming that I’ve got something to write about and people like it. 

Any particular reason why you went into theatre?

I've always been into the theatre. There’s the People's Theatre in Newcastle. Quite a big Am-dram theatre. It's huge. They used to do the RSC there back in the 70s. I started there just theatre training. I just found it way more accessible. Live Theatre had a youth workshop that you could go to. 

There's so many little new writing nights in pub theatres in London. If I get accepted, I could write a scene, I can go and perform it that night. So I think doing theatre seems logistically easier. With film you need a good film editor. Post production is very heavy, whereas theatre very much like 'this is it now.'

Do you get nervous on stage? 

Oh, yeah, probably all the time. Especially if it's a packed-out audience. I mean, my first play at the fringe, I stupidly got my dates wrong on the poster, so no one came to the first show! And for the second performance, we had two people. But still, it was like, this is what I'm here for. I still get nervous, though. But if you've prepared well, obviously knowing your lines is great help. And as long as you believe in yourself, and you think what you've got is worth itself. Then, the nerves stop when you start performing, and before you know it, you've been on stage half an hour. So, yeah, the nerves soon disappear. 

What's next for Sam Harry Macgregor beyond Hold the Line? 

Well, I'd like to be in a show at the Fringe this year. I just love being at the Fringe. I think you get a bug for it. But now that I've performed there a couple of times, to be active in someone else's play would be great. Purely on the basis I don't have to worry how well the play is doing, I'm just the actor. That would be nice in the summer. And to get some get some auditions for TV work, would be great. And I've got a couple of ideas for some new plays. I actually started writing some of them, and performed one of them earlier in the year, so I've already tested it a bit.

Hold the Line plays at the Nottingham Arts Theatre on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 April 2026.