01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, May 14, 2006

BY CHANNING GRAY
Journal Arts Writer

A nurse on break at Rhode Island Hospital heard the news on TV the evening of Feb. 20, 2003. A horrific fire was sweeping through a West Warwick nightclub, and the casualties were expected to be high.

Meanwhile, the hospital -- suddenly expecting somewhere around 100 patients -- was in the midst of a shift change.

Jane Metzger, chief nursing officer, asked everyone to remain on duty to handle the expected influx of patients. An area on the fifth floor was turned into a triage unit to treat the 43 patients who were eventually admitted. Another 20 or so were treated and released.

For the hospital's nursing staff, it was a life-changing night -- one that has been captured in a 45-minute mixed-media performance of what happened behind the scenes the night of the Station fire.

Horror, Heroism and Hope will be performed for the first time in public next Sunday, at Trinity Rep's Pell Chafee Performance Center. The cast comprises the nurses themselves, with a little coaching from actor Rose Weaver.

Metzger and nurse Susan Colantuono wanted somehow to share their experiences with their fellow nurses, but didn't want to put together "a boring panel presentation." So the two wrote a script describing the emergency roomon that tragic night. Then they brought in Weaver to help shape the material and work with the nurses on their acting techniques.

Colantuono had seen Weaver's monologue Menopause Mama, and knew the actress had been teaching at Rhode Island College. Weaver worked with the group of "very scared nurses" for two or three months. Music was added and the scenes were worked into a cohesive whole.

There were several run-throughs at the hospital, said Metzger, before taking the show -- more a series of strung-together vignettes -- to a national nurses' convention in San Diego. The performance got a standing ovation from an audience of about 600.

Metzger narrates the show from the sidelines, and none of the other nurse-actors play themselves. It was thought it might be better to give the actors some distance from their own experiences.

During the show, video clips of a reenactment of the night of the fire and still photos from the actual night are shown on a large screen.

There are also simple scenes, such as one in which nurses pray for the victims to be able to produce urine.

"I still cry every time I see it," said Colantuono.

One night only

Sunday's showing is a benefit for the Friends of Nursing at Rhode Island Hospital, a philanthropic organization Metzger has created.

It will probably be the first and last time Horror, Heroism and Hope will be performed publicly, although Metzger and Colantuono are considering making a video to use as a teaching tool for the medical profession.

But Metzger said it is becoming increasingly hard for the nurses to relive the events of that horrible night. One of the staff nurses lost a best friend.

One thing the play shows is the dedication and professionalism of the nurses on duty. Some nurses were married to firefighters; some had children at the nightclub. You could see the fear in their eyes, but they kept focused on their jobs and the patients they had to treat.

A side benefit is that the show has helped the staff heal. Many nurses felt inadequate that night. But their actions "also made the staff very proud," said Colantuono. She said the work of the nurses that night elevated them to the status of heroes. E-mails and cards poured in from around the world.

Nurses returned from vacation to take part in treating the patients. In addition to everything else, the nurses had to move patients to the fifth floor to make room for a 40-plus bed ICU on the fourth floor, where all the treatment could be concentrated.

One of the things about being a nurse is that working with patients can change you forever, said Metzger. "It can't help but make you a better person."

The last Station fire patient was released from Rhode Island Hospital on May 5, 2003. There is a clip in the show of that person waving goodbye.

Horror, Heroism and Hope will be performed next Sunday, May 21, at 5 p.m. at the Pell Chafee Performance Center, 87 Empire St., Providence. Tickets are $15 and are available through the Trinity Rep box office, (401) 351-4242, or at www.trinityrep.com.

cgray@projo.com / (401) 277-7492