{"id":17082,"date":"2016-11-27T22:48:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T22:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/in-new-musical-disability-rights-activist-tackles-assisted-suicide-31870\/"},"modified":"2016-11-27T22:48:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T22:48:00","slug":"in-new-musical-disability-rights-activist-tackles-assisted-suicide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2016\/11\/in-new-musical-disability-rights-activist-tackles-assisted-suicide\/","title":{"rendered":"In new musical, disability rights activist tackles assisted suicide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

London, England, Nov 27, 2016 \/ 03:48 pm (CNA<\/a>).- Physician-assisted suicide has been a subject of controversy for several years, but Liz Carr is taking the issue somewhere it has never been before: the musical theatre.<\/p>\n

Carr, a disabilities activist, comedian and actress, created a production entitled Assisted Suicide: the Musical, which has been staged at various English theatres this month. The musical is aimed at drawing critical attention to the downfalls of physician-assisted suicide, particularly its effect on marginalizing the disabled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to use musical theatre to look at this difficult subject with the lightness and the kind of heightened realism of musical theatre,\u201d she said in a video interview with Unlimited<\/a><\/strong>, an initiative for disabled artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis musical, in a way, is my playground for\u2026my thoughts on this subject, I have never seen this portrayed in culture \u2013 and I want to see that,\u201d Carr continued, calling the musical colorful and vibrant.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Physician-assisted suicide has not been legalized in Carr\u2019s home country of England, but it has gained traction in other countries including the Netherlands and Canada.<\/p>\n

The topic of assisted suicide has also made a splash in Hollywood, with the film Me Before You<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>showing a young quadriplegic\u2019s path to love and ultimately euthanasia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Carr\u2019s mind, films such as these ignore both mental health issues as well as social barriers, which is why she wanted to create a piece for the performing arts that would faithfully narrate the reality of assisted suicide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never seen a piece of art of theatre which expresses opposition to legalizing assisted suicide from a disabled person\u2019s perspective \u2013 so I decided to try to rectify that,\u201d Carr wrote in an article for the Guardian<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For Carr, the topic of euthanasia should be contrasted with presenting another way of life, where individuals with disabilities are valued and appreciated \u2013 not expected to die. Carr wanted to circulate this narrative to promote thoughtful reflection on what physician-assisted suicide means for the terminally ill and in particular, for the disabled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, don\u2019t wish death upon us because you feel pity for our condition,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Carr also suggested that physician-assisted suicide \u201chas little to do with pain\u201d and more to do with quality of life, which makes its legalization especially dangerous for those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, loss of dignity, loss of autonomy, loss of ability to do daily activities, and fear of being a burden \u2013 reasons which are essentially more about the realities of living with a disability in our society \u2013 are all more important than pain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carr\u2019s musical was a sold-out production, premiering on the first anniversary of Parliament\u2019s defeat of physician-assisted suicide. According to Unlimited\u2019s site, the musical was laced with provoking \u201cnotions of choice, dignity, compassion and quality of life through music, comedy, spectacle and shared humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Carr hopes the production will encourage education and debate about the realities of euthanasia legislation.<\/p>\n

Legalizing some forms of suicide, she said, \u201cdoes not mean that when a fellow human being \u2013 disabled or abled \u2013 expresses the wish to die\u2026that we should agree with them. The value of a life is not just in its physicality but in our relationships with those around us.\u201d
\n\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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London, England, Nov 27, 2016 \/ 03:48 pm (CNA).- Physician-assisted suicide has been a subject of controversy for several years, but Liz Carr is taking the issue somewhere it has never been before: the musical theatre.<\/p>\n

Carr, a disabilities activist, c…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-europe"],"yoast_head":"\nIn new musical, disability rights activist tackles assisted suicide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"London, England, Nov 27, 2016 \/ 03:48 pm (CNA).- Physician-assisted suicide has been a subject of controversy for several years, but Liz Carr is taking the issue somewhere it has never been before: the musical theatre. 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