Bridget Reilly Durkin ’07

Bridget Reilly Durkin ’07 (playwright and performer) is a physician, bioethicist, and theater artist in Philadelphia, PA. The Art of Dying premiered April 2018, developed as Bridget’s Bioethics Master’s thesis. As an Internal Medicine resident, Bridget was curious about what ‘dying well’ meant in today’s medical and cultural climate. As a former member of Theatre Intime, Triangle Club, and the Theater & Dance certificate program, Bridget has always been fascinated by the role of theater in exploring challenging, thought-provoking, and fundamental questions. As a Classics major, Bridget studied how the ancient Greeks used theater to examine the complex experiences of power, individual agency, and communal responsibility. Theater provides a unique opportunity to facilitate community conversations around challenging health and ethics issues, from dying to gene therapy to living with chronic illness. This play is her first foray into that exploration. Learn more about The Art of Dying and other upcoming projects at DrBridgetDurkin.com