Candid One-Actor Performance Addresses the Realities of End-of-Life Care
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 10, 2014) — Healthy individuals tend to avoid the subjects of death, dying and end-of-life care in everyday conversation. But for providers of palliative care and people living with a terminal illness, death is a constant reality.
A single actor from the Still Point Theatre Collective in Chicago will portray many emotions and scenarios related to end-of-life care during a performance on Tuesday, Nov. 11, at the Pavilion A Auditorium in the UK Chandler Hospital. The 70-minute performance titled "Deep Listening" will relay familiar stories, dialogues between patient and palliative care providers, and musical performances, all centered on death and dying. The performance is part of the Newman Foundation's Distinguished Speaker Series and is sponsored by the Newman Foundation, Inc., with support from the UK Chandler Hospital and the UK Arts in HealthCare program.
Katie Yunker, co-chair of the Newman Foundation’s Distinguished Speaker Program, said everyone can benefit from watching a candid portrayal of death and dying scenarios. The moving one-actor performance contains gentle humor, as well as somber and contemplative moments. The play, which has been presented to churches and hospice groups, intends to educate health care workers, counselors, ministers and other professionals on how to approach end-of-life conversations and provide compassionate palliative care.
"The point is to stimulate discussion," Yunker said. “If it's not verbalized, then at least to simulate thought and integrate head and heart in anyone's approach to this reality, whether it's at work, or with a loved one now or in the past."
The Still Point Theatre Collective is a community of artists who are dedicated to creating performances, workshops and events that raise awareness of peace and justice. “Deep Listening” was written by Teresa Weed, who was commissioned to write the play by Still Point founder Lisa Wagoner-Carollo. Wagoner-Carollo was inspired to create this play from her two-year experience living with people who were dying of HIV at a homeless shelter.
Continuing education credits are available to health care workers who attend the performance. The performance begins at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a 30-minute open discussion of death and dying topics. It is free and open to the general public. In addition, the performance will be broadcast to patient rooms at the UK Chandler Hospital for those patients, workers or families who want to view on a television.
For more information about the Distinguished Speaker Program, visit www.newmanfnd.org. To watch a 10-minute clip of "Deep Listening," click here.
MEDIA CONTACT: Elizabeth Adams, elizabethadams@uky.edu