Unexpected Gifts: Hospice a Community Journey

Death, dying, grief and the redemptive power of human relationships: these are the themes explored in the engaging performance piece Unexpected Gifts, based on the successful readers play of the same title. The play, inspired by the hospice home care movement and its dedication to the creation of an in home, caring environment for terminally ill patients and for those who love them, was presented at Perseverance Theater, Juneau, Alaska, in the fall of 1999.

Unexpected Gifts weaves together a set of compelling personal stories that capture profound emotions of loss and illuminate at the same time the role that community plays in healing survivors of a loved ones death. Three vignettes focusing on a child, a young woman, and a middle aged man are developed together, unified by the presence of a trio of hospice home care workers who share each persons story and have stories of their own. Although each story is built around an Alaskan death and an Alaskan survivorÆs life, the human experiences and the hospice sense of the importance of community are powerful universal reminders of sorrows unexpected gifts.

Stories scripted by: Jack Cannon
Co-directed by: Kate Bowns, Jamie Mclean
Directed by: Terry Tavel
Technical Director: James Mahan
Post Production: Terry Tavel, Randy Burton
Executive Producer: James Mahan
Copyright KTOO-TV/HHCJ 2000
Length: 28:00