Told through the story of one family dealing with health issues, which includes a doctor who has a tough choice to make, a new theatrical work making its debut in San Pedro is part play and part call for social justice.
“I would like it to start conversations. I would like it to bring people together, people who are in the medical field, people who have had these experiences where they’ve felt ignored or overlooked while navigating the healthcare system,” said playwright and actor Shawn Christopher Lovell Nabors whose play “The People with the Trees in Their Chest,” runs for two days only, June 21-22, at The Grand Annex Music Hall in San Pedro.
The play is being presented in partnership with the Grand Vision Foundation and California Arts Council.
Nabors said he was Inspired by his own youth and his experience as a Black queer playwright to write a play that looks at how healthcare disparities affect African American and Latino communities, particularly through the lens of heart health.
“The play is loosely based on events in my family. I’ve had several family members, particularly women, die from heart attacks, the first being my great grandma when I was 9, then my aunt a couple of years ago. So it’s really been a way for me to process grief,” he said.
The play tells the story of a young Black doctor named Chauncey, who is portrayed by Nabors. Chauncey loses a patient because of the hospital’s negligence and has to decide whether to protect the reputation of the hospital or tell the truth about what happened.
“This event triggers memories from his past, things with his family and ways he has been treated. So he has to remember where he came from. Essentially he’s trying to break the generational courses of unexpected heart attacks and negligence that Black people experience in the healthcare system,” he said.
It’s also a play that touches on mental health, which is important to Nabers, who attends therapy. So Nabers relates a lot to the lead character and has found playing Chauncey, who sees a therapist in the play, to be somewhat therapeutic, which is fitting for a play about healthcare.
“I feel that my own process of therapy has found its way to the play. Just how helpful I’ve found going to therapy myself, the breakthroughs that I’ve been able to find through therapy, I feel like all of that is in the play,” he said.
‘The People with the Trees in Their Chest’
When: 8 p.m. June 21-22
Where: The Grand Annex Music Hall, 434 W. 6th St., San Pedro
Tickets: Free; RSVP encouraged
Information: grandvision.org
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