At Regular Intervals

This article presents a short play entitled “At Regular Intervals,” which is offered as a piece of applied anthropology. The writing draws upon the author’s own lived experience of having the disability of non-neurogenic bladder failure, which he manages through clean intermittent self-catheterization (CISC) six times daily (Lapides et al. Citation1972). The central character in the play is Richard Davies, a professor in his late fifties. His story is told in four scenes and a coda and follows him on a long-haul flight to Seoul, through the airport security lane at Incheon Airport, in his hotel room, a Korean hospital emergency department and a conference room. I use the dramatic device of a second figure, THE BODY, who is visible only to Richard and to the audience. This character represents Richard talking to himself and both externalizes and makes real the continuous self-monitoring that people with complex chronic conditions and disabilities continually perform without others being aware. The play emphasizes Richard’s recurrent urinary tract infections as being one of the least-discussed dimensions of long-term catheter use. The play argues through the use of drama that patient expertise is fundamental to good clinical care and not supplementary to it

Cultural Studies and Interdisciplinary Research · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Theatre and Performance Studies

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