Five terminally ill patients who use services provided by St Giles Hospice near Lichfield made history on Friday evening (5th June) when a film in which they starred was premiered at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.
Written and performed by Irene Claxton, Joan Burns, Vicky Phillips, Margaret Roche and Ann Chattaway, The Decision has been released as part of a Let’s Talk about Living campaign to highlight the challenges faced by people towards the end of life, and to encourage open and honest dialogue about the issues surrounding death and dying.
The film was directed and produced by Lucinda Jarrett, artistic director of Rosetta Life, the voluntary organisation that is leading the campaign.
With Lucinda’s help, the women were transformed from patients to story-tellers as they reminisced about major decisions they had taken in their lives before and after they were diagnosed with their life-shortening conditions.
The message that came over loud and clear from the film to the audience in a packed house was that, even during this difficult period in their lives, people with a terminal illness can and should make key decisions about what happens to them, where they live and the kind of help and support they need.
Hospice patient Joan Burns explains that her burning desire to see her grandson graduate from university has given her the physical and psychological strength to stay alive long enough to witness the moment. “That’s the best decision I ever made,” she insists.
Another hospice user, Irene Claxton, proudly proclaims how she resisted attempts to move her into care because, despite her increasing frailty due to a terminal condition, she knew that with the right support she would be able to remain in her own home.
Poignantly, with the film being released just before the week-end’s ceremonies in Normandy to mark the 65th anniversary of D Day, Joan Burns recalls how during the Second World War she fell in love with a soldier who was sent to Omaha beach and never returned. “I could have happily married him,” she proclaims as she shares her fond memories with fellow patients.
Irene Claxton, Joan Burns and other terminally ill patients were able to contribute to an awareness-raising film in this way thanks to the support of artists from Rosetta Life, staff from St Giles Hospice and funding from Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust.
Artistic director Lucinda Jarrett commented: “To witness at first hand the personal commitment made by the hospice patients we have been working with over recent months was a truly moving experience.
“We are extremely grateful to them for their perseverance, their stamina and their infectious enthusiasm. In a fundamental sense, they demonstrated through their actions the meaning of the term ‘carrying on’ regardless of the odds.”
She added: “We must also acknowledge the tremendous help and support we have received from St Giles Hospice. Without their co-operation, the making of the film would not have been possible.”
The showing of the film Decisions was followed by the premiere of a play performed by a unique combination of patients from St Mary’s Hospice in Birmingham and professional actors from the city’s repertory theatre.
Speaking for the 300-strong audience, Birmingham East and North PCT chief operating officer Andrew Donald said both the film and the play had been about depicting real life through the eyes of real people.
“Their message has been extraordinarily powerful,” he said. “I think you could justifiably call it a case of Hospice Got Talent.”
Just like their successful counterparts in the much talked about Britain’s Got Talent programme, some of the St Mary’s Hospice team and the professional actors who worked with them are set to tour hospitals, hospices and schools around the West Midlands later this year.
Last Friday’s performance also marks the start of a series of other pioneering initiatives to come in the weeks ahead.
Under the banner of the Let’s Talk about Living campaign, the play will be followed up by the premiere at The Electric Cinema in Birmingham on 29th June of Night and Day, a film depicting the personal stories of six West Midlands families grappling with the day to day challenges posed in their midst by life-threatening illness.
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To find out more about the work of Rosetta Life, log on to www.rosettalife.org
For further information about the participation of St Giles Hospice patients in the making of Decisions, please contact: Lucinda Jarrett, Artistic Director, Rosetta Life on 07968 428 494 or Paul Castle on 0121-765 4222.
