A play about a woman waiting for a liver transplant.
WAITING TIME spotlights a significant medical and social issue that many people are facing today: the need for a new body part and the dearth of organ donors. The global organ trade is an uncomfortable subject. But it’s not just money that is running this horror show; it’s also love of life. Francis and Jesse face a conflict that questions their beliefs. My hope for this play is that it entertains while it softens peoples’ perceptions. Not every malady can be resolved as easily as this one. All that is needed are donors.
Two sisters are spending the winter at their childhood country home. Francis needs a liver transplant and her sister Jesse joins her to be a caregiver. Time slows as they wait for the hospital call that will decide life or death. They talk about their memories, their dreams and the option of the organ trade.
Francis was once a successful songwriter/performer. She is single, narcissistic and charismatic. Her wasting beauty and loss of strength have unnerved her. She is afraid but hides that with a rough bravado.
Jesse is married with older kids, a University professor approaching retirement. She is more socially and politically conscious than Francis with a wry sense of humour. Waiting for the miracle of a new life for her sister, Jesse realizes she has the time and the choice to tweak the retirement model, to pluck forgotten dreams out of the long ago.
