The newfie nurse

We saw _Tempting Providence_ run by the Factory Theatre. Chronicling the feats of Myra Bennett, a nurse in the small and isolated Daniel’s Harbour in Newfoundland in the 1920s, it also featured 101 ways to use a table set as props and scenery. They also had fresh oysters on the half-shell by Oyster Boy and strawberry champagne in the foyer.

Seriously, it was a good play. And if you’re wondering why a nurse is the subject of a play, consider this: in the winter of 1926, her brother-in-law had his foot cut off by a lumber saw. She stitched it back together, then herself and her husband pushed him on a sled some 60 miles to the nearest hospital. She had did such a good job with needle and thread, his foot was saved. She was also three months pregnant at the time.

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