Play Discusses Euthanasia and the “Right to Die”

Play Discusses Euthanasia and the “Right to Die”

Christine Toy Johnson discusses her musical “Till Soon, Anne,” arguing  for the “right to die.”

(Christine Toy Johnson recites her play. | SOURCE: Author)

“Everybody has a different way to deal with death,” said Christine Toy Johnson, reading from her musical, “Till Soon, Anne.” Johnson, who visited Washington and Lee University on March 24, gave a reading of her musical sponsored by the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics.

Johnson, a multiple award-winning, Tony-honored playwright and actor, is best known for advocating for more Asian American voices in Broadway and film. She has received honors for her advocacy from the Japanese American Citizens League, the nation’s largest and oldest Asian American civil rights organization, and the Actors’ Equity Foundation. Johnson also produces plays like “Unnatural Causes,” which challegne and advocate for other reforms, like climate change. 

Her performance centered around her original play, “Till Soon, Anne.” The play, based on a true story about someone choosing the “right to die” or choosing to euthanize themself), had “something at the core of it that meant something to us and we wanted to express that.”

“Till Soon, Anne” follows the life of a newlywed agnostic woman who is suffering from terminal brain cancer. Her conservative childhood best friend and her Irish Catholic father both try to convince her not to exercise her right to die. 

Anne's  mother and college friend, a Buddhist, liberal Hawaiian, try to abide by Anne’s decision. Christine covers these contrasting moral and political views throughout the play, and through Anne’s mother, Johnson emphasizes the point that they should let Anne choose how and when she dies.

Ultimately, Anne exercises her “right to die,” committing medically assisted suicide, leaving her friends and parents behind to struggle with their collective loss. 

Christine Toy Johnson stressed open-mindedness at the end of her discussion: “I would love for someone to be open to considering the various aspects of the story.”