Sam MacGregor on Portraying NHS 111 Life in his debut Hold the Line

Set during one relentless shift on the NHS 111 frontline, this new comedy-drama blends sharp humour with emotional insight to explore the unseen toll of call centre care. In this interview, Macgregor reflects on writing Hold the Line from experience, shifting between characters, and finding drama in the everyday chaos behind the phone line.

Hold The Line is inspired by your real-life experience on the NHS 111 frontline – what made you want to turn that into a show?

I started getting into writing before I was employed for 111, so when I started working for 111, it wasn’t something I necessarily knew would make a good play. After my third year of working for 111 (I’m now in my 5th), I naturally just found myself taking down notes of certain scenarios and I set to work on fictionalising them. You’re taking some incredibly intense calls but also some very run-of-the-mill standard routine health-related calls, but when you mix these together (and fictionalise names etc) there’s room for some very interesting content. 

The show follows one chaotic shift – is this based on one real-life day at work?

Fortunately for me it is not. It’s an amalgamation of experiences. I’ve had some pretty intense calls over the course of a shift, but what happens in the play is entirely fictional. I’ve essentially merged a lot   real life scenarios and then tweaked bits for dramatic purposes to serve the story and audience. However, even though it’s fictional, the content of the play is inspired by true events (just not one night!). 

Did performing as multiple characters come naturally to you? 

I think fringe theatre is the place where ‘multi rolling’ is most common in stage acting. Budget constraints affect how many actors you can pay to be on the stage, so a highly effective way of getting around this is by having actors play different characters. I’ve always been good at doing accents and mimicking people, so I find multi rolling a great way of telling my stories with a small cast. 

What’s something most people don’t realise about working in a call centre like NHS 111?

I think people see it as a place for low stakes and possibly even mundane health issues. While this is true for the most part, people always seem shocked when I tell them that I (a non-medical professional) often deal with intense mental health calls or high-stakes medical calls where it can be life or death. 

Were there any calls or moments from your time on the job that really stuck with you and influenced the show?

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but there are some mental health calls which have inspired both dialogue and character in the play. Although I am careful to maintain the privacy of my callers.

Again, I’m not sitting at my desk taking notes about much of a good plot point this will be, I think would be a bit gross and (obviously highly inappropriate!)  But as a writer (or someone trying to be!), over the years, some of the mental health calls or other scenarios I’ve dealt with have stuck with me to the point that I thought, this is both obviously sad and edge-of-the-seat stuff. It’s seeing the human experience through both the patient's and the employees' perspectives. 

What do you hope audiences walk away thinking or feeling after seeing Hold The Line?

Hopeful. Informed and entertained. I think it’s a hard task making a play about the NHS, especially from a fresh perspective. I hope this play does just that. I don’t want it to be an ‘in your face’ message for the audience. There are nuances in the play which might have audiences experiencing mixed feelings, but that's still good. 

Hold the Line will be performed at 4.25pm in the Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two) from 30th July – 25th August (not 18th)

For tickets and more information, visit:: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/hold-line