Playing Around

If all the world’s a stage, I’d like to be the playwright.

I would begin by rewriting some classic scripts to bring the world of Parkinson’s to the stage.

Romeo & Juliet:
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy diagnosis and refuse thy meds;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be without a tremor.

and

Hark, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is getting up to pee again.

Hamlet:
To DBS or not to DBS? That is the question.
Whether it is nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of on and off times
or to take arms against a sea of dyskinesia?

Death of a Salesman:
Willie Lowman’s name would change to Willie Slowman.

Grease:
Lyric shift in the Frankie Avalon Beauty School scene:
Dopamine dropout, no normal movement for you.

The Wizard of Oz:
All three characters would want a new brain.

A Christmas Carol:
This would need the most rewriting. It would likely play out quite differently. I’d scrap Tiny Tim’s cane and put him up on stage with a service dog like Sir Thomas. Scrooge would be trying too hard to pet him to utter even one Bah Humbug.