Calcedonies: critical reflections on writing plays to engage citizens in health and social policy development

Abstract

I have been writing plays for 15 years so that reflection of the heart as well as the mind can be part of equitable and fair health and social policy development. In this paper, I critically reflect on my new play Calcedonies, including the writing of the script and why I had to write it. I include the first section of Calcedonies for the reader to have a sense of the play’s construction, characters, and the issues that will be personalized and unpacked over the course of the play. In the decade it took me to have the courage to begin writing this play, I realize that my reflection was as much about how I let the woman down who asked me to write a play about her, as it was about how our health and social support systems let her down.

Keywords:

• Calcedonies
• humanities in health care
• reflections on theatre for health policy development

Notes

1. Memorial service words were later published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (Nisker, 2001b).