Henrietta Lacks

The year is 1951 and Henrietta Lacks is a black American woman being treated for womb cancer at a hospital in Baltimore. During her treatment, two cell samples were taken without her knowledge. She would never come to know that it was those cells that helped make the development of the first immortal human cells possible. Now orphans, her children would for a long time ignore the medical and financial benefits that this discovery brought. Besides being a social and human drama, Anna Smolar asks us to consider the question of cellular property rights. Would the progress in science have been possible if we had had the right to financial compensation for the use of our tissue? What sort of discrimination is the result of such a system? So many questions that underline this exciting staged production where characters from the past re-emerge, sing and dance to the incessant pace of cell multiplication. Questionning the financial interests underlying medical research, this show reminds us of the existence of a forgotten woman whose DNA is still alive today.