Opening a Conference with Heart and Story
The Problem: Genomics is a piece of medical innovation which can have a huge positive effect on patients and practitioners. But practitioners don’t think it’s for them, or they think it is only for very rare or niche cases. In fact it is widely applicable, but that message wasn’t getting across.
The Idea: The client team got advice that if medical practitioners connect to the heart and the ‘why’ of the subject, its application for patients, they are far more likely to take in the information around it and take the technology up.
Why Playback? Having previously seen a Playback performance, the client got in touch with us at Melbourne Playback. The saw that we are experts in real stories, and creating nuanced, sensitive theatre that shows real people’s stories in all their facets, but was never exploitative, insensitive or gratuitous. When working with any stories, but in particular those of vulnerable groups, the fine balance between the emotional truth of a deeply difficult situation and maintaining the dignity of the person, is critical and of utmost importance for us at MPTC.
The Brief: We worked together to craft the brief, which was: “Most sessions will focus on the what and the how of bringing genomics into patient care in hospitals. The theatre performance needs to help people feel the why – by exploring benefits and barriers in a creative and compelling way. We need to spark an emotional connection that carries people through the informative and technical discussions to follow.”
The Work: We worked closely with the client team, reviewing existing stories of patients and interviewing other stakeholders to craft a script that wove together these stories in a highly engaging arc, juxtaposing different experiences and illustrating the truths of peoples’ journey with genomics – the good, the bad and the obstacles.
The Performance: We delivered a ten minute piece for the opening of the summit, performed by a live musician, live projection art, and five actors. We worked closely with the event management and venue team to ensure seamless integration of the performance with the conference programme.
The Result: Due to working closely with the client to develop the work, we were pretty sure the piece was going to land, but the response blew us and the client away. The head of a major research institute (who’d been to more conferences than she can remember) said it was the best conference opening she’d ever seen. The chair of the board wrote a glowing email to the organisation about how unusual and engaging the piece was were. A summit attendee teared up during the performance because she recognised one of the stories shared as a patient of hers.
“You and the team clearly worked hard to bring our patient and clinician stories to life, with deep respect for the audience. Thank you so much for patiently walking healthcare nerds through a creative process. It seriously paid off!”
Watch the whole performance here: https://www.melbournegenomics.org.au/news-and-media/state-genomic-care-summit/theatre-performance
Cast: Lisa Maza, Nina Harris, Josiah Lulham, Jalen Ong, Phoebe Mason, Karen Berger (music), Lucy McCallum / Third Ray Productions (live video)
Director: Sodi Murphy-Shrives
Writers: Phoebe Mason, Alex Sangster