{"id":3699,"date":"2023-09-19T10:00:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T09:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699"},"modified":"2023-09-15T09:42:04","modified_gmt":"2023-09-15T08:42:04","slug":"performing-hela-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2023\/09\/19\/performing-hela-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Article Summary by Emma Cox<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>My work considers the role theatre and performance play in making sense of diverse healthcare experiences, medical histories, and biomedical technologies. My essay in this issue of <em>Medical Humanities<\/em>\u00a0is concerned with how theatre, as an embodied artform, can make meaning out of the complicated, traumatic histories that have built up around the HeLa cell line and the life of Henrietta Lacks. The theatrical production that I analyse, <em>HeLa <\/em>by Adura Onashile, sits within a lineage of Black British women&#8217;s theatre, which has been instrumental in addressing institutional power and racial justice.<\/p>\n<h3>Read the full article on <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/mh.bmj.com\/content\/49\/3\/447\">the Medical Humanities website<\/a><\/strong>.<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3701\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Portrait of Emma Cox\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-768x1022.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-1154x1536.jpg 1154w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-1538x2048.jpg 1538w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-640x852.jpg 640w, https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains.jpg 1576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/pure.royalholloway.ac.uk\/en\/persons\/emma-cox\"><strong><em>Emma Cox<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em> is a London-based theatre and performance scholar whose research examines forced migration, memory and place in performance and visual culture. She has published widely on migration and the arts. Her current work concerns performance in museums and medical institutions and her next book focuses on global performance histories associated with human remains.<\/em><!--TrendMD v2.4.8--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Article Summary by Emma Cox My work considers the role theatre and performance play in making sense of diverse healthcare experiences, medical histories, and biomedical technologies. My essay in this issue of Medical Humanities\u00a0is concerned with how theatre, as an embodied artform, can make meaning out of the complicated, traumatic histories that have built up [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/2023\/09\/19\/performing-hela-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":345,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15028],"tags":[15044],"class_list":["post-3699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal-announcements","tag-research"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile&#039;s HeLa.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile&#039;s HeLa.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medical Humanities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Pak\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Pak\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Pak\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0e11c1a9a0f1f9f2aa898a719652c44c\"},\"headline\":\"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699\"},\"wordCount\":169,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"research\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Journal Announcements\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699\",\"name\":\"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile's HeLa.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2023\\\/09\\\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains.jpg\",\"width\":1576,\"height\":2098,\"caption\":\"Portrait of Emma Cox\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?p=3699#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\",\"name\":\"Medical Humanities\",\"description\":\"Providing a space for scholarly intervention into the conversation around medicine, as practice and philosophy, as it engages with humanities and arts.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Medical Humanities\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-mh.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/files\\\/2017\\\/10\\\/blog-logo-mh.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":34,\"caption\":\"Medical Humanities\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0e11c1a9a0f1f9f2aa898a719652c44c\",\"name\":\"Chris Pak\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Chris Pak\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/blog-team\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-humanities\\\/author\\\/chrispak\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities","description":"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile's HeLa.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities","og_description":"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile's HeLa.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699","og_site_name":"Medical Humanities","article_published_time":"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Chris Pak","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Pak","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699"},"author":{"name":"Chris Pak","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/person\/0e11c1a9a0f1f9f2aa898a719652c44c"},"headline":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains","datePublished":"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699"},"wordCount":169,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg","keywords":["research"],"articleSection":["Journal Announcements"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699","name":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains - Medical Humanities","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains-225x300.jpg","datePublished":"2023-09-19T09:00:12+00:00","description":"Emma Cox writes about performance, the HeLa cell line and Henrietta Lacks through analysis of Adura Onashile's HeLa.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2023\/09\/Cox-Emma-Performing-HeLa-theatrical-bodies-and-living-remains.jpg","width":1576,"height":2098,"caption":"Portrait of Emma Cox"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?p=3699#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Performing HeLa: Theatrical Bodies and Living Remains"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/","name":"Medical Humanities","description":"Providing a space for scholarly intervention into the conversation around medicine, as practice and philosophy, as it engages with humanities and arts.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#organization","name":"Medical Humanities","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-mh.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/files\/2017\/10\/blog-logo-mh.png","width":300,"height":34,"caption":"Medical Humanities"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/#\/schema\/person\/0e11c1a9a0f1f9f2aa898a719652c44c","name":"Chris Pak","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e2081fcdeea32c307cbbb99bfceffaf5bd08d12c3d5e1b155798facd9674a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Chris Pak"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/blog-team\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/author\/chrispak\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/345"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-humanities\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}