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Audience responses to a research‐based drama about life after breast cancer
Author(s) -
Sinding Christina,
Gray Ross,
Grassau Pamela,
Damianakis Falia,
Hampson Ann
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.998
Subject(s) - drama , breast cancer , distress , isolation (microbiology) , psychology , survivorship curve , qualitative research , social psychology , aesthetics , medicine , psychotherapist , sociology , cancer , art , literature , social science , bioinformatics , biology
This article explores audience reactions to the research‐based drama Ladies in Waiting? Life After Breast Cancer . Quantitative findings indicate an overwhelmingly positive response, with approximately 90% of those who saw the production agreeing that they benefited from seeing it and indicating that they would recommend it to others. Qualitative data reveal a more complex picture of the range of reactions, allowing us to describe the most valued aspects of the production (mainly how it eased isolation and normalized the difficult aspects of survivorship) and to better understand the few reports of distress. Audience responses to Ladies in Waiting? suggest that chronic aspects of breast cancer are rarely acknowledged. Viewing the production as one that reveals difficult and hidden realities allows for a fuller understanding both of its supportive and unsettling effects. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.