Time to go
Subtitle: three plays on death and dying, with commentary on end-of-life issues
By: edited by Anne Hunsaker Hawkins and James O. Ballard with Theodore Blaisdell.
Contributors: Hawkins, Anne Hunsaker, 1944-; Ballard, James O.; Blaisdell, Theodore.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 118
Subjects: Death -- Drama.; Do-not-resuscitate orders -- Drama.; American drama -- 20th century.; Right to die -- Drama.
Description: This unusual and timely book presents three prize-winning, one-act plays on the hard choices that patients, their families, and their physicians often face at the end of life. Each play is followed by a critical commentary, with suggestions for staging and follow-up discussions. The introduction provides a lucid and succinct explanation of the human, ethical, and legal contexts for the rights of patients in the United States to make important decisions about their health care.

Medical technology has radically changed the way we die; it is now possible to sustain life long after consciousness and intelligence are gone. Although Congress recently passed a law intended to encourage people to create an "advance directive" - a document instructing health care providers what to do in situations where an individual is unable to communicate his or her wishes - surveys show that few people have done so. Time to Go is intended to increase awareness and knowledge about advance directives, and beyond that, to facilitate discussion about the many complicated issues surrounding death and dying today.

Besides its interest for the general reader, it should prove useful in the educational and outreach programs of medical and nursing schools, colleges and universities, and civic and religious groups.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Journey into that good night / Berry Barta; title: Stars at the break of day / Marjorie Ellen Spence; title: Time to go / CE McClelland.