MIASMA

What can one man do in the face of a pandemic? What happens when “the science” is wrong?

When a slow response will cause excess deaths, but the wrong response will kill people, what should you do?

Colin Murphy’s new play explores these questions through the cholera pandemic of 19th century, and the story of the man who helped to stop it, John Snow.

Cholera was carried in the air, everyone believed. So the solution was to rid London of its stink – by emptying the streets of sewage. But where did they wash the sewage into? The Thames. And where did Londoners get their drinking water…? The Thames.

This is a medical detective story, as John Snow tries to solve the puzzle of cholera, and save lives. But it won’t be enough to prove that cholera is in the water – then, he will have to convince the establishment to act.

This rehearsed reading is brought to you by Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics, in partnership with ANU productions and Colin Murphy supported by Science Foundation Ireland Discover Funding Programme and the European Research Council, and by Dublin City Council Culture Company

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