Assisted Suicide, The Musical could change your mind on euthanasia – The Sydney Morning Herald

COMEDY FESTIVAL ASSISTED SUICIDE: THE MUSICAL Liz Carr Malthouse Theatre Until April 9

InDicing With Dr Death, euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke tried his hand at stand-up at last year's Comedy Festival.

This year, actor, comedian and disability activist Liz Carr (probably best known here for her work on the BBC'sSilent Witness) puts an all-singing, all-dancing counterargument.

Carr describesAssistedSuicide: The Musicalas a "TED talk with show tunes" and, if the musical theatre can be a bit amateurish, Carr's oratory is brilliant and persuasive. I thought I knew where I stood on theassistedsuicidedebate, but her fierce intelligence, erudition and sardonic wit left me much less certain.

A vaudevillian opening number lightly mocks the liberal bandwagon Carr is up against, and the best song a duet between Carr and the Pope makes clear the bemusement this left-wing progressive feels at being surrounded by conservative allies.

It's a show that probes the rhetoric of "choice" in relation tosuicide, exposes abuses in jurisdictions that have euthanasia laws, and reveals questionable tactics in the global "right to die" movement (including whitewashing "suicide" into less confronting euphemisms).

One strong objection Carr raises is that givingassistedsuicidethe imprimatur of law, society and the medical profession will force disabled people, especially those in pain, to live with an exit sign over their heads. An internal debate Carr has with her alter-ego reveals how she might avail herself of the "right to die" in a moment of weakness.

Any "right to die" could morph into something more sinister, she argues, at least until the right of marginalised groups to live with dignity is thoroughly secured.

Carr is a better debater, and much funnier, than Nitschke. We can only hope Premier Daniel Andrews, and other parliamentarians, accept her invitation to see the show ahead of the planned conscience vote on the issue.

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Assisted Suicide, The Musical could change your mind on euthanasia - The Sydney Morning Herald