Welcome to the Death Cafe: CANCELLED

Everything you need to know about euthanasia but are afraid to ask. You will cast your vote on euthanasia in a referendum at the next general election. Come and see the arguments laid out.

"Humorous, moving, frightening and ultimately uplifting, WELCOME TO THE DEATH CAFE takes the audience on a roller coaster ride on the subject of euthanasia."

Jan Bolwell’s new play WELCOME TO THE DEATH CAFE looks at the contentious subject of euthanasia. With the Euthanasia Bill currently making its way through the New Zealand parliament it is timely to examine this issue.

Bolwell says: “I feel passionate about the subject of euthanasia because of personal family experience. It is when we are confronted with the death of a loved one that we are compelled to examine closely our own feelings.

I have tried not to write a polemical play that pushes a particular point of view. Euthanasia is a very complex issue and there are strong arguments to be made on both sides of the debate.”

"What you gonna do when death walks in the room?"

This is the opening line of a Mavis Staples song, sung by the cast that challenges the audience to think about what choices they might make when confronting their own death.

The play is not full of doom and gloom. There is a lot of humour, and even song and dance. Sometimes in the most tragic of circumstances, there is laughter.

Jan Bolwell sets her play in a Death Cafe meeting. Death Cafes, a worldwide phenomenon, are where people come together to have coffee and cake and to discuss aspects of death and dying.

There are five people who turn up at the Death Cafe meeting in Masterton, each with their own personal reasons for being there. These are revealed as the play unfolds and euthanasia becomes the focal point of their discussions.

“I am blessed to have a wonderful cast to help me bring this play to the stage. Annie Ruth, Julie Edwards and Vivien Bell are three talented and highly experienced actors, and it is great to have younger actors, Bea Lee Smith and James Forster on board too,” says Bolwell.

www.janbolwell.com

Fringe Tags; Theatre, Dance, Music