PRINTIt's the breast show in town
A cancer survivor’s courageous comedy has healing powers
Arts department
January 25, 2007 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Cancer is a scary thing; it pushes people to think about their own mortality but can also inspire thoughtfulness and expression.
MU theater professor Heather Carver plans to turn the preconception that cancer is purely depressing on its head when she performs a one-woman play about breast cancer January 25 and 27 and February 2 and 4.
What: Booby Prize: A Comedy About Breast Cancer
When: January 25, 27 and February 2, 8 p.m., February 4, 2 p.m.
Where: Corner Playhouse
Cost: $7
Call: 882-PLAY
Heather Carver walks the balance beam with her daughters, Tricia, center, and Ellie at The ...
The play, Booby Prize: A Comedy About Breast Cancer, details Carver’s personal experiences with cancer. Carver uses humorous anecdotes about her husband, children and doctors when describing the milestones of her successful cancer treatment.
“It sort of came to me that the writing that I wanted to do was not just a self-healing journey but also something that could be good for others,” Carver says. “In my story, I hope people can get ideas about their own relationship with women who might be battling this.”
In October 2005 Carver was diagnosed with stage IIB breast cancer, which can be either a large tumor that has not spread to the lymph nodes or a small tumor that has spread. After having both breasts removed and undergoing chemo and radiation therapy, she survived with a tale of how she beat “the gentle giant,” a layperson’s term for the type of malignant tumor she had. Her sense of humor, she says, helped her fight that battle by keeping her optimistic.
“Having a positive attitude doesn’t necessarily cure cancer, but it sure does help you feel a lot healthier while you’re doing it,” Carver says.
Carver attempted to retain normality in her life by continuing to teach while she received treatments. She also wrote what she calls “morning pages,” a technique of writing three pages a day to record personal experiences, ideas and creative prose. Carver’s writings about her cancer became the foundations for Booby Prize.
“Some days I look at it and think how poetic, and other days I’ve found the emotional journey is just ‘I’m writing because I’m trying to write the cancer out of my body,’” Carver says. She tested her performance in October 2006 at the Ellis Fischel Oncology Conference, where she performed in front of a group of medical professionals and caretakers.
The play begins with Carver dressed as a clown — something she has done for several years at volunteer activities such as the Special Olympics. Then she takes off the clown face to tell fragments of her cancer battle, with emphasis on the lighthearted moments.
During the play, Carver tells of having her hair shaved off during chemotherapy. Referencing Joan of Arc, she speaks of wrought expectations and how traumatic it sounds for a woman to shave her head. A friend started shaving Carver’s head down the middle, and Carver knew her tale could be a comedy instead of a tragedy.
“It was at that moment that I realized that I wanted to keep who I am,” Carver says. “I didn’t have to become sad and depressed. You can be funny even while battling cancer.”
Val Weder, an MU graduate student and performance artist, saw the play at the conference. She says it works especially well because of its uncanny approach and audience interaction, which includes the audience answering questions and throwing the clown noses Carver had passed out at the beginning.
“[Interaction] is important to performance art,” Weder says. “When people have a stake in the piece, it gives them a richer, deeper experience, especially when you’re dealing with something like breast cancer. You want people to go away feeling invested.”
Weder believes the show’s humor will resonate with audiences.
“Humor is a way of making work accessible to people,” she says. “It brings people in, maybe in some cases when they’re like ‘I don’t feel like dealing with that emotion right now.’ It can be a way of welcoming people to think about something that is otherwise deep.”
There will be noticeable differences between the first performance and the upcoming plays, according to Kevin Babbitt, the show’s director and a doctoral theater student at MU. The show will be twice the length, clocking in around an hour because of added and lengthened stories, but Babbitt insists the show will be just as entertaining and thought-provoking.
“There are quite a few poignant and comic moments throughout,” Babbitt says. “There’s a good balance between the two.”
Carver says if there is one thing the audience gets out of the performance, it is awareness. She says young women need to constantly consider having breast examinations.
“There are a lot of issues in women’s health that I hope to find ways to talk to people about,” Carver says.
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