Play Examines Family’s Struggle with End-of-Life Issues

April 15, 2008

The Duke Institute on Care at the End of Life (ICEOL) will sponsor a performance of “Vesta,” an intimate drama examining an ordinary family’s struggle with end-of-life issues.

The play explores the emotions and decisions a family must face through the end of a grandmother’s life. “Vesta” often evokes a strong emotional response from audiences, yet it deals with the issues of aging and dying in a thoughtful, sometimes humorous manner, says Jeanne Twohig, deputy director of ICEOL.

The play will be performed April 22 at 7 p.m. at Duke University’s Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center. Admission is free, and tickets are not required.

Immediately following the production will be a discussion with the cast and audience, facilitated by Myra Christopher, president/CEO of the Center for Practical Bioethics in Kansas City, Kan., and a member of ICEOL’s National Advisory Board.

Leif Bergerud, a first-year M.Div. student at Duke Divinity School, will direct the play, written by Bryan Harnetiaux of Spokane, Wash. Cast members include the Rev. Diane Amidon, a Duke Divinity School Spiritual Formation leader and a pastor at St. Philip Lutheran Church in Raleigh, N.C.; Duke Divinity students Aaron Klink and Ryan Frack; other Duke University students Anna Brown and John Kolba; Ron Thompson, director of Duke Hospice; and Florence Nash, a Durham resident.

ICEOL owns the rights for non-professional productions of the 10-year-old play, which was performed professionally for the first time earlier this year in Seattle, Wash. Many hospice care and end-of-life organizations have embraced the 90-minute play, which the institute uses as an educational tool by making it available at a nominal fee to community groups, health care institutions, medical and nursing schools, hospice and end-of-life organizations, churches and others.

For more information on end-of-life care and “Vesta,” call 919-660-3553, email ICEOL or visit the ICEOL website.