Informed Consent

Just got back from seeing Informed Consent by Cleveland Playhouse.   It is the centerpiece of their New Ground New Theater Festival.   Good theater makes you feel something.  This was an amazing play, but it is not a cheery work.  In fact, I left feeling quite angry at the main character.   The play is based on a true story too.

Informed Consent is about a gross violation of informed consent.   The main character, Jillian, is a genetic anthropologist who lost her mother to early onset Alzheimer's disease.  She is going to develop the condition herself.   She gets a job to study an American Indian tribe for diabetes.  Blood to this group is sacred.   She then selfishly writes a hugely vague informed consent document and runs additional tests, embarrassing the tribe, causing emotional distress, and openly disagreeing with their mythology.

There are only 5 actors in the show who play multiple roles.  They also serve as chorus and narrator group.  This is an excellent show, especially if you are in the medical profession.   Informed consent is very very important.  This play shows how that violating it can break so many more things than trust.