#radiology department alceste

[nablah]

"but why is admeto a medical physicist? it changes literally nothing" 1. gender politics and power 2. maybe i'm in medical physics. maybe one day i want my hot rad tech wife to maybe administer the radiation dose. maybe i want a hot rad tech wife. maybe a dangerous amount of radiation turns me on. Art.

[nablah]

OK!! so all throughout finals week i kept thinking about alceste because of The Pain and radiation therapy because of The Exam, so my brain combined them, voila alceste set in the radiology department (nicky as far as niche things go this is surely something)

Alceste is a type of Orfeo ed Euridice: you have the beloved who's not quite dead and the lover whose actions that bring about the story can only stem from their love. You have the somewhat present god who offers a bargain to the lover to bring back the beloved from the dead. And finally you have the clause of not telling the beloved about the bargain. ANYWAY. That's the 3 main elements.

So the Alceste set in the radiology department would primarily incorporate the Euripidean origins of the opera while retaining some ties to show the interpretation in the modern world. We keep the Euripidean """fantastical"""" world because like Orfeo, Alceste represents a fantasy: to bring someone from the dead. You've got Alceste and Admeto who are idk rad tech / medical physicist because they hold relative power in the radiology dept but they dont over matters of life and death. Admeto is dying etc etc except now the context is radiation induced (btw dyk they have this estimate for how long radiation professionals cut down their lives and its BS at this point but y'know. Stochastic effects) which presents something interesting to me because radiation induced means he brought it on himself, like the myth and the play, and also because treating it only means he'll survive and most likely die of it later, when he's older. So it's a terminal thing at least. So Alceste gets the news and its already all blurring into a picture where the foreground is still the hospital, probably Admeto is on a LINAC, but the backdrop is a combination of ancient greece and a hospital. It's dreamlike, because again, its a fantasy, either the audience's or Alceste's.

So the oracle proclaims the bargain etc etc no one will die for Admeto (both in a hospital setting and in Thessaly). She just goes on prepping the machine maybe while she makes the bargain in the forest. NOW HERES WHY I KNOW THIS WORKS AS A SETTING. As a rad tech she has to administer the dose, i.e. she gives the treatment to her husband while she herself is exposed to radiation i.e. she's trading her life for his. it's a long term commitment tho which she probably assumes but the shades tell her she's going to die right there and then she asks for time. insert acute radiation syndrome, maybe on the GI system (i'll explain later!!). Back in the hospital Admeto is feeling better (disclaimer unfortunately this doesnt happen irl the client will most likely feel nauseous after a treatment round) and yay theyre rejoicing but bam Alceste's feeling sick (in radiation sickness GI system level this is what we call the manifest illness stage. the latent stage for GI ARS can last a few hours to days) so the relief that turns into horror scene goes thru and Admeto leaves to bargain with the gods. or the doctors. Alceste is reaching the end of the manifest illness stage and this is followed by either recovery or death. She's being given transfusions supportive care etc all until the 3rd act. Admeto is outside the room because its ARS and thats a major safety breach. Theyre mourning outside with the kids and with Alceste inside and then bam she dies. cue the mourning again and Admeto goes mad, maybe tries to get into the room where her body is and then Apollo deux ex machina saves everyone Alceste recovers (you can recover from GI ARS with proper care) and the opera finishes. Theyre both permanently disabled btw, but theyre alive.

If you read until here you may have noticed this was just a major infodump on radiation safety and radiation induced effects. Dont play with radiation :)) even if its for an opera!

[nablah]

on one hand the provincial hospital radiology department alceste on the other hand martial law orfeo ed euridice

[nablah]

I wish the modern adaptations of alceste considered that aside from alceste and admeto's story, there's also the power dynamics they hve as monarchs who may rule yes, but ultimately cannot rule over matters concerning life and death. They could not even convince one citizen to give their life for Admeto despite all their virtues. anyway. radiology department production of alceste when.

[nablah]

attempting to imagine a thriving opera/theater industry in the PH:

Ang Kasal Nila Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro - Set during the mid to late Spanish colonial era (translated "nila" instead of "ni" because Figaro Susanna, do not separate.)

Don Giovanni - Set during the early Spanish colonial era

Rigoletto - Set during the American colonial era / minor government body during the Marcos dictatorship

Holy shit why is our history so fucking dark we got to make this slightly happier

L'Orfeo - Set in pre colonial Luzon society (props to most of Visayas and Mindanao for having organized religion p early) / Japanese Occupation/ Early or Late Marcos dictatorship

Carmen - set during Japanese occupation/ PH-American war

Alceste - fits into a larger idea i have but set in a provincial hospital's radiology/ nuclear medicine department

La Traviata / Ibong Mababang Lipad - modern PH 😶