The God Committee at Wollongong

If you had the power to choose who will live and who will die, how would you make that decision?

The God Committee is a Grey’s Anatomy-style medical drama that asks the audience to consider what a human life is worth, and who makes that determination. The play, written by Mark St. Germain, is the final production in Wollongong Workshop Theatre’s 2023 season.

Medicine, money, and morality clash when the Heart Transplant Selection Committee of St. Patrick’s Hospital has only minutes to decide which of three patients will receive a heart that has suddenly become available. Seven committee members, each with their own agenda and personality, weigh up each patient and try to work together to decide who will receive the gift of life – and who will miss out. The God Committee takes us into the inner workings of a transplant program and a decision - for both their candidates and their program - that is a matter of life and death.

The production highlights not only the value of a human life, but also the importance of organ donation in saving lives. The God Committee is directed by Suzi Villeneuve-Smith, who has a personal connection to the play’s subject matter after years of working in the healthcare system.

“The real dramatic part of the show comes in because everyone’s values and beliefs are challenged. Who gets the heart? Do we go with science, or do we go with how you feel? Do we go with a person’s life, and the value that person has held in that life, or should we get the heart and put it into someone who may life for the next 10, 15 years? It’s a real clash of values, it’s a real clash of personalities. Does the ‘right person’ get the heart?”

The God Committee opens at the Wollongong Workshop Theatre in Gwynneville on October 6 until October 21.  

Season October 6 – 21, 2023

Performances: 8pm Fridays and Saturdays / 2pm Sundays

Venue: Wollongong Workshop Theatre, 190 Gipps Road Gwynneville (behind the Senior Citizens Centre)

Tickets $30 / $25 concession

To book, visit https://www.wollongongworkshoptheatre.com.au