In the world premiere of a one-woman play, the author of The Vagina Monologues offers insights on the importance of patient experience and more.
In her new play, "In the Body of the World," Eve Ensler describes her experience with cancer. She talks about the care she received at the Mayo Clinic and other healthcare facilities.
She reveals the harshness of chemotherapy, the dedication of the volunteer whose work is to facilitate the expulsion of flatus, the simple act of a provider looking at her in her eyes offering reassurance, and the assault-like treatment of another provider.
The play offers insights on the importance of patient experience, but it is about much more.
Ensler, the author of "The Vagina Monologues," explores family dynamics, rape, joy, atrocities in the Republic of the Congo, and even an incidental reference to Donald Trump that elicited laughter from the audience.
The world premier of the one-woman play, which continues through May 29 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is all the more powerful because it is performed by Ensler herself.
During a conversation with the audience after the performance, the director, Diane Paulus, who worked with Ensler on adapting her memoir to a live 90-minute presentation, explains that the staging is designed to break through the barrier of the fourth wall—the imaginary barrier between the performer and the audience—to create a sense of community.
The healthcare industry has some of its own barriers to breach: those between provider and patient, between payer and provider, between executives and patients. The barriers may not be intentional or ill-intended, but by creating a greater sense of the community of caring, leaders can enhance the experience of their patients and themselves.
We see that sense of community in the City of Joy, a community initiative in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo to support and treat the survivors of rape and abuse from the years of war.
Ensler mentions the work of Mayo clinicians who volunteered their time and skills to travel to the community to care for the women as the community heals, teaches, and creates new women leaders.
Despite the despair and the dire circumstances of life in the Congo or life with cancer, by breaking down barriers, there can be joy.
Bob Wertz is editorial director for HealthLeaders Media. He may be contacted at bwertz@healthleadersmedia.com.