The Hand of Sarah Nelmes

The Hand of Sarah Nelmes is a bold, witty, sometimes irreverent, time-shifting drama that reclaims the forgotten story behind one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in history. Moving fluidly between rural Gloucestershire in the 1790s and a world locked down by a modern pandemic, the play weaves together past and present to ask urgent questions about science, sacrifice, memory and who gets written into history.

At its heart is the milkmaid Sarah Nelmes — observant, curious, and uncredited — whose courage and insight helps lay the foundations for vaccination, while others take the fame.

This is the premiere of Martin Lytton's thought-provoking play, which has won the Three Counties Talent Hub playwriting competition 2026, a collaboration between Malvern Theatres, Everyman Theatre - Cheltenham and Worcester Theatres.