Medical readers' theater: William Carlos Williams' "A face of stone"

2018-10-03

University of Virginia. School of Medicine

Thirty years ago, the medical school at East Carolina University created a readers' theater program in which short stories about medicine were adapted as theatrical scripts. Medical students performed a story by reading it aloud, then actors and audience--often a community group--together discussed the drama and the ethical and social issues it raised. These plays and post-performance discussions enlivened and changed how future physicians and audiences--prospective patients all--approached and learned from one another.

The best way to learn about medical readers' theater? Just do it. In this Medical Center Hour, UVA medical student actors present a dramatic reading of physician-poet William Carlos Williams's 1938 short story, "A Face of Stone." Following the performance, the audience joins in, as everyone responds to and discusses the play and the ethical, social, and cultural concerns it explores.

A John F. Anderson Memorial Lecture
Co-presented with the Sloane Society for Medical Humanities, UVA

DeFelice, Allee (Speaker); Gurman, Zev R. (Speaker); Streeter, Gregory (Speaker); Tomkinson, John (Speaker); Childress, Marcia Day (Moderator); University of Virginia. School of Medicine

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

Filmed lectures

Readers' theater; Medicine in literature; Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963

Medical Center Hour

Claude Moore Health Sciences Library

English

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1 online resource (1 video file, 60:48 min.) : sound, color