Quacks & Whacks: A Cancer Comedy

Written by mother/daughter team, Amanda and Terry Miller, “Quacks and Whacks: A Cancer Comedy,” uses absurdist humor, clowning, puppetry, music, and animation to spotlight the very real struggles and triumphs of navigating the three-ring circus that is living with advanced stage cancer in America. We join Sharon, a middle school teacher (and the colorful cast of cancer cells singing, dancing & hiking through her body) as she dodges gravel cravings and gargantuan insurance cards in pursuit of effective screening, humane healthcare, and, really, any kind of answers at all.

The play is inspired by playwright and performer Amanda Miller’s mother, Terry Miller – a longtime theater teacher and practitioner now 77 years-old, who has been living with a Stage 4 Lung Cancer Diagnosis for three years.

Says Amanda Miller, “Through the show, we hope to build community with people who have been impacted by serious illness and promote advocacy to improve our ailing healthcare system.”

"Dark and entertaining on a taboo topic, relatable moments for any cancer or chronically ill patient. Perhaps although meant tongue in cheek more of this will help one day bring awareness to the areas the medical world could use some restoration." - Amber, Cancer Survivor