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I had the opportunity to speak with the young man who has the lead in this
new play.  He seemed to be a very intelligent man who wants to portray PD
properly.  He told me that his character must show the progression of PD
over eight or more years and that he was going to be spending the weekend
watching films of patients in all stages of the disorder the author, Dr.
Brodner, was bringing to New York with him.  He's promised to send me all
kinds of information about the play in the next week or so which I'll pass
along.

Jeanne Lee-Rosner
PDF-Chicago

----- Original Message -----
From: Leo Fuhr <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 9:37 PM
Subject: Re: New play about Parkinson's [from Jerry Finch]


> Will those of you who live in/near NYC and can go see "Handshake", the new
> play about a man with Parkinson's and his decision and his neurosurgeons
> role in that decision to have a pallidotomy to improve his quality of
life,
> please advise the list of your reaction to the play?  Art imitates life
and
> it is significant that theatre is speaking about life with Parkinson's.
>
> Thanks in advance for your theatre reviews,
> Jeanette Fuhr
>
> ----------
> From: janet paterson <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Fwd: New play about Parkinson's [from Jerry Finch]
> Date: Saturday, December 11, 1999 8:57 PM
>
> >Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 20:52:05 -0600
> >From: J Finch <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: janet paterson <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: [Fwd: New play about Parkinson's]
> >
> >"Sanner, Stacey" wrote:
> >>
> >> A new play about Parkinson's called "Handshake" will run in NewYork
City
> in
> >> January.  The play will run as a showcase for three weeks at the
Miranda
> >> Theatre, 259
> >> W. 30th St., in New York City  from January 13 - 30.  Tickets are $12,
> $10
> >> for groups of 10 or more.  Tickets can be purchased by calling Ticket
> >> Central at 212/279-4200 after Dec. 22nd.
> >>
> >> "Handshake" is about a man and his family struggling with
Parkinson's --
> and
> >> over whether to move ahead with pallidotomy.
> >>
> >> It's also the struggle of one doctor - to persuade his patient that
this
> >> procedure is worth the risk to restore his quality of life, and to
> convince
> >> the medical community that quality of life is a suffering patient's
> right,
> >> one that must be covered by health insurance.
> >>
> >> "Handshake" also addresses the larger issue of isolation caused by the
> >> disease.  For the patient it is from family and friends and even the
> most
> >> ordinary pleasures of daily life.  For the doctor is isolation caused
by
> his
> >> own lack of emotional connection to those around him.  The play's
> journey is
> >> the journey of these two men - to save each other and themselves.
> >>
> >> Interestingly, "Handshake" was conceived by a neurosurgeon -- Dr.
Robert
> >> Brodner who was the first doctor to perform a pallidotomy in Florida in
> >> 1996.  He was so moved by the success of this and related surgeries for
> >> Parkinson's that he enlisted author/playwright Julie Gilbert whose
> fiction
> >> and biographies have earned her National Book Critics Circle awards and
> >> Pulitzer Prize nominations, as well as her theatre work garnering her
> >> nationwide productions.
> >>
> >> One of our goals is to create a better understanding of Parkinson's -
to
> >> share with those who know, and, perhaps more importantly, those who
> don't,
> >> the realities of not only of the disease but also the benefits of the
> new
> >> treatments available.
> >>
> >> Stacey Sanner
> >
> >--
> >Help us save the horses! Habitat for Horses, Inc.
> >A lifetime home for abused, endangered horses.
> >http://www.habitatforhorses.org/
>