6 February 2009
A health care worker based at Epsom Hospital stepped out of the wards and onto the stage as a leading character in a local pantomime last month. 27-year-old Sarah Jane Pullen, who works in the Elective Orthopaedic Centre (EOC) as a rehabilitation technical instructor played principal boy, Jim Hawkins in the production of Treasure Island by the Carshalton Pantomime Company.
Sarah Jane said: "I really enjoyed it. I've loved acting and singing from a very early age, so I really love being involved with productions like this. It's great for meeting new friends too - everyone involved in the show was fantastic. We're like one big family really."
Sarah Jane is one of 18 members of physiotherapy staff who work at the EOC- the UK's largest joint replacement centre- providing specialist post operative care to patients recovering from knee, hip and other joint operations. She said: "It was a really busy period for me and, as the performances got closer, the rehearsals get longer and longer. Between rehearsing and working I didn't have much time for anything else."
Sarah Jane has been taking part in pantomimes for the past 12 years and has a keen interest in amateur dramatics and operatic singing. The theatrical bug runs in the family, as her sister, Lisa Smith, also stars in the show while her mum Pat takes care of the costumes. "As a family, we all love pantomimes and we're all in it together now. It's just brilliant fun," she said.
Treasure Island was shown at the Secombe Theatre in Sutton throughout the month of January.
