As If We Plan to Stay

Taking Action to Limit Ambient Poisoning

A Play by Beth Alderman

Memory holds our most precious gift, our living life story, our evolving personal narrative. Mine–like yours, perhaps–is shaped by what Rilke called dragons that are princesses waiting to be kissed.

Back in December 1996, I was an academic physician — finishing up a second public health study of the causes of birth defects in children born in Washington state.

Except that I couldn’t seem to keep my theory in my mind…

Introduction to Play

The play “As If We Plan to Stay” is written for school drama groups, congregations, community groups, and amateur theatrical companies who wish to constructively engage an audience in coming to terms with chronic ambient poisoning in humans and its relation to the Sixth Extinction, and in creating solutions such as engaging Evolve Medicine, committing to habitat restoration, or trying habitat integration.

Based on the life of Beth Alderman, MD, MPH, author of Medical Detective, it tells the story of her illness, its causes, and her efforts to persuade doctors to care for patients in the context of the living world. It mixes humor, pathos, fear, and hope with a revival-style engagement of the audience and the possibility of adapting it for your audience. Step up, enjoy, and co-create your living future!

Terms of Use

This play is intended to inform as well as inspire. As such, it is important that you also become familiar with the factual materials on which it is based:

• the autobiography Medical Detective
• the article on Chronic Ambient Poisoning
• the article on Medical Emergence

While this play faces life-extinguishing problems, its ultimate purpose is to inspire creation of a living future. It is therefore important to actively engage and encourage the audience during performances by taking advantage of opportunities for humor and by involving the audience in activities such as chats, songs, and volunteering.

While “As If We Plan to Stay” is offered to you free of charge, this is done in the spirit of “pay it forward.” We therefore ask that you commit to raising funds or gathering volunteers for local habitat restoration. If this is not feasible for your audience, kindly consider raising funds for EM. We could use financial support to develop our online community and affiliated networks. Thank you for stepping up! 🙂

In summary, “As if We Plan to Stay” is free for you to use under the following terms: