A Question of Mercy
by David Rabe

Name: A Question of Mercy
Brand: David Rabe
SKU: 9780822216438
Rating: 3.55 (46 reviews)

A Question of Mercy Book Cover — A Question of Mercy Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

90 minsUnit Set/Multiple SettingsAmerican

What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play, with some finding it gripping and heart-wrenching, while others believe the original essay was more powerful. Many anticipate performing it, indicating an interest in its themes and characters. The engagement with the ethical dilemmas presented resonates with several readers.

Gripping and heart-wrenchingEngaging ethical dilemmasAnticipated class performancesAdaptation lacks original's power

Synopsis

David Rabe is one of America's finest dramatists.

In A Question of Mercy, he explores the controversial and emotional issue of euthanasia, delving deep into the ties that bind friends and lovers.

Thomas and Anthony are lovers struggling with Anthony's final, exhausting battle with AIDS.

Joined by their friend Susanah and a retired doctor, whose help Thomas has requested , they fashion a heartbreaking friendship as they work through the stages of a plan to relieve Anthony of his illness and his life.

Rabe creates a passionate depiction of four people confronted with the reality of a loved one's fight with death, and a compelling dramatic event that poses the question: "What would you do?"

Press Reviews

"A QUESTION OF MERCY probes the sensitive and controversial issue of doctor-assisted suicide. ”There are many devastating ironies in Mr. Rabe's beautifully considered, piercingly clear-eyed work…Mr. Rabe renders this dark course of thwarted intentions with astonishing elegance, discipline and restraint…Mr. Rabe, in a play that reestablishes him as one of America's preeminent dramatists…has written an exquisitely controlled work about what will forever lie beyond human control.“ —The New York Times. ”With unsettling candor and disturbing insight, the play arouses pity and understanding of a troubling subject…Rabe's provocative tale is an affirmation of dignity that rings clear and true.“ —Variety. ”Rarely has a playwright pared down a script with such a skilled hand. Like a surgeon with a scalpel, Rabe has pulled back the flesh to expose the heart of the matter."
— Backstage