麻豆社

A Play For Radio by Mark Lawson

The soft sad silence of a child Intensive Care Unit, broken by the whirs and bleeps of arti铿乧ial life support. A 30-something woman is leaving the ICU telling a nurse that she needs to be 鈥渋n court鈥� and that she is 鈥渁bsolutely sure she just smiled".

At the High Court, in a legal antechamber, the woman is sitting on the opposite side of the room to a man of similar age. They have a curt and hurt conversation.

Mrs Justice Penley calls the hearing to order. She tells the court that this is an emergency hearing to decide between the claims of the mother and father of a child who is in a PVS (Persistent Vegetative State) as a result of a very rare genetic condition. In this 鈥渦nusually complex鈥� case, the couple is bitterly separated so each parent is calling separate and con铿俰cting medical evidence.

Then, there is a dramatic courtroom twist.

As the recon铿乬ured case comes before Mrs Justice Penley, all those involved discover who is really responsible for the fate of DVP. The play ends, as it began, in the ICU.

CAST:
MRS JUSTICE PENLEY - Susan Jameson
PHOEBE - Macy Nyman
PEQ (DEBORAH) - Jeany Spark
XZR (ANDREW) - Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong
JYA (CRAIG)/COURT CLERK/NURSE - Tom Glenister
BEA JENKINS KC - Jane Slavin
EMILY LEANING KC - Lizzy McInnerny

Producer/Director: Eoin O'Callaghan
A Big Fish Radio production for 麻豆社 Radio 4