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Theater Annotations

Miracle Mile Middleton, Clark

	On-Line VideoAudio Only
Medium	Theater
Keywords	Acculturation, Adolescence, Arthritis, Body Self-Image, Disability, Doctor-Patient Relationship, Humor and Illness/Disability, Illness Narrative/Pathography, Narrative as Method, Pain, Patient Experience, Power Relations, Sexuality, Suffering, Surgery, Survival, Time
Summary	Actor Clark Middleton wrote this autobiographical dramatic monologue in collaboration with Robert Knopf. Stricken with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at age four, Middleton enacts his early painful experience -- painful physically and emotionally. He takes us through an adolescence complicated by physical difference, his interaction with medical professionals over the years, and his craving to become an actor. Middleton struggles with the medical establishment, the pain and humor of coming-of-age, and ultimate self acceptance. Eventually, he was able to have both hip replacement surgery and a career in theater and film. The play is funny, poignant, and instructive.
Commentary	Miracle Mile was performed in New York City in Fall, 1997 at Theater Row. The New York Times review called the play, "an enriching chronicle of a man who refuses to let the world take him at face value." Middleton performed his monologue at New York University School of Medicine and at other institutions. Clips of a videotape of the theater performance are available at this web site.
Director	Michael Warren Powell
Leading Actors	Clark Middleton
Miscellaneous	Produced by Michelle Bouchard
Annotated by	Aull, Felice
Date of Entry	07/12/06
Last Revised	08/31/06