THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
The National Theatre London, 17 July-12 September
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), playwright, Nobel Prize, and Oscar winner, wrote The Doctor’s Dilemma (1906) to meet the challenge of writing a tragedy.
The play opens with newly knighted physician Sir Colenso Ridgeon receiving notable colleagues while basking in the glory of his new anti-TB treatment. The self assured surgeon, convinced that everyone has ‘blood poisoning’ and if only he could remove their ‘nuciform sac’ they would be cured. The ‘rich GP’ who made a fortune offering ‘cure guaranteed’ even though admitting that the majority of illness is self-limiting, contrasted with the impoverished GP who has ‘forgotten all my science’ but poignantly remarks on the importance of clinical experience. Finally, two eminent and pompous physicians who pontificate hilariously.
We are then introduced to Mrs Dubedat, a beautiful woman who has sought out Ridgeon to treat her brilliant but immoral artist husband, who is dying from TB. Ridgeon only has the capacity to treat 10 patients, so is faced with the dilemma of whether ‘to kill another man for his sake’. The other man in question turns out to be Ridgeon’s impoverished GP colleague. We are invited to debate this ethical dilemma of rationing finite resources, with Ridgeon and his colleagues making an assessment based upon the morality of the proposed patients. The hypocrisy inherent in this is further exposed when we learn Ridgeon’s desire for Mrs Dubedat has influenced his decision, in effect condemning her brilliant but flawed husband to death.
The play itself is wonderfully staged in this high quality National Theatre production. A medical audience will find the opening parody of hierarchy and quackery among physicians, surgeons, and GPs particularly entertaining. While the comedic moments are enjoyable, the ‘tragedy’ towards the end did not quite feel believable, and some of the characters lacked emotional depth. However, some of the problems of rationing, particularly within a private and competitive healthcare environment, enhance the relevance of this play to today’s audience. I wonder what Bernard Shaw would make of the current healthcare reforms and whether he would still think that doctors are ‘not a profession, we’re a conspiracy’.
