In this theatrical performance, the audience is transported back to 1909, where they meet Typhoid Mary and hear her story firsthand. Mary arrives in full period costume and creates an interactive historical vignette that considers the ethics of choices made in situations of isolation and quarantine. Using the circumstances of her story as the back drop, Mary asks you to consider the factors by which she was quarantined, and ask yourself “how would you feel if you were Typhoid Mary?”

By using a live theatrical performance, audience members can more easily empathize with Mary and the human concerns that must be considered in isolation and quarantine. The identified issues open a facilitated dialog with Mary to discuss quarantine situations that may arise in current practice, including extreme situations such as avian influenza, SARS, XTBR and MRSA. In addition to ethical issues, basic infection control and food safety practices are re-iterated.

The vignette is based upon Mary’s own letters, articles and letters of those involved in her plight, including famous Sanitarian George Soper and Physician S. Josephine Baker. Historical cartoons, modern representations of Mary and photographs of locales are used in a slide show to create setting.

Length:  1 hour

CEU Offered:  No

For more information contact:  Kristin Watkins at 402.552.2529 or kwatkins@unmc.edu.