διὰ τὸ τὴν αὐτὴν εἶναι μελέτην τοῦ καλῶς ζῆν καὶ τοῦ καλῶς ἀποθνήσκειν.
“Through the very same rehearsal one both lives well and dies well” -Epicurus, 4th century BCE
What does it mean to live well? To die well? These questions have fascinated philosophers, artists, and ethicists since before the time of the ancient Greeks. Although the contemporary world is very focused on the good life, the idea of a good death is too often an afterthought in our era of modern medicine. Adding to the difficulty of contemplating death, we are able to live better each day by taking the lessons of the day before and improving upon them. Yet, we are only able to die once. So how can we hope to recognize what might be a good death?
Through her Master of Bioethics final performance project, medical student and classicist Bridget Reilly Durkin explores the moment before death in a series of engaging portraits, anecdotes, and confessions. Based on true stories shared by patients and witnessed during her rotations in the hospital, this one-woman performance allows actor and audience alike to try on various deaths, to enable us to begin to grapple with this unknowable and inevitable event as a community.