Hospice Foundation Of America - Using Theater to Reach Your Community

Using Theater to Reach Your Community

These plays by award-winning playwright Bryan Harnetiaux provide a rich opportunity for self-examination and community dialogue on fundamental questions surrounding death and dying. Each play can be used individually or in any combination by hospices, churches, medical schools and other organizations as an educational tool and as a vehicle for creating public dialogue about end-of-life issues.

"This project is fantastic—I just wish more people knew about it. I can’t understand why every hospice across the country isn’t doing them!"

- Victoria Spear
Hospice of Sacred Heart, Eugene OR

"Calvert Hospice in Prince Frederick, MD incorporated the play Holding On~Letting Go last year into our annual Hospice and Palliative Care Conference and it was a huge success! The play was performed by students at the local community college and they did a marvelous job. All who watched it were deeply touched.”

- Amy, LCSW, ACHP-SW
Director of Patient & Family Services

Vesta
Offers a warm and often funny exploration of a family's struggle with a variety of end-of-life issues as they come to terms with the illness and death of Vesta Pierson, their matriarch. Vesta is a 90-minute, seven-character play about the last five years of the title character's life.

Dusk
A five-character, 70-minute drama, deepens the conversation about end of life. Gil Everette has had a heart attack and is now in congestive heart failure. On the eve of his 65th birthday, Gil and his adult children, with a medical social worker on hand, explore Gil's wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment options.

Holding On ~ Letting Go
An often humorous, yet heartrending look at a family forced to come to terms with the end of a life, and saying goodbye. Fifty-one-year-old Bobby Alexander and his family confront Bobby's end-stage liver failure and the murky boundary line between living fully and accepting death. This intimate six-character, 70-minute drama explores the role of hospice care in the wilderness of a terminal illness and impending death.

Licensing Information
One-year licensing agreements are available through HFA. Choose one that works best for your organization.

Single performance - one-year license for one play - $175

Trilogy license - $450 - one-year license for a single performance of each play or one play can be used three times in a year. This fee includes a complete production packet that contains:

- an electronic copy of the play,
- suggested discussion questions,
- templates for advertisements and media releases,
- sample programs and flyers, and
- suggestions and ideas from other organizations that have successfully produced a play in their community.

Other licensing combinations are available. Contact Lisa Veglahn at lveglahn@hospicefoundation.org or 202-457-5811 for details.

Review the Trilogy Information Sheet (PDF)

"We have received only positive feedback from the community. The play facilitated a great deal of discussion and I have received many compliments from families about how helpful it was in getting them to have discussions with their family members over Thanksgiving. I think the actors and crew did a great job and we are looking forward to the remaining performances.”

- Carlos Graveran, Executive Director
Hospice of Frederick County, Frederick MD