"28 FEET succeeds in pulling off the impossible---it enacts Jonathan Mirin's long struggle with Crohn's Disease without flinching, yet manages to alternately delight, move, and completely engage the audience with its willingness to reveal vulnerability, pain--- and ultimately a celebration of life's healing possibilities. As a clinician who has watched the devastating effects of chronic illness on many lives, I left the theatre truly inspired!"
- Emily Fox-Kales, Ph.D., Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University
"I'm more than happy to recommend this play to people with IBD and their family and friends. I enjoyed 28 FEET a lot. It was funny but also tragic, realistic and yet full of humor. It's a story most of us IBD sufferers can truly identify with. Thank you!"
- Marika Armilo, Vice-Chairman, European Federation of Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis Associations & Board of Directors, Crohn ja Colitis, Finland
Hi Jonathan,
I attended your workshop performance of 28 feet on Saturday night. I was sitting in the back row with my boyfriend (he has Ulcerative Colitis, and I have Crohn's). I was very moved by your performance - so much so, as you may or may not have noticed, I was pretty emotional (tears rolling down my cheeks) at the end and during the workshop session. I couldn't really participate because I was just trying my best to regain composure.
I really enjoyed the entire performance, and there were many things you said that just really resonated with me, and my 16 year journey with Crohn's . . . I was also really inspired by the scene when you encounter the art therapist and sing "The Healing Song." I'm a writer, and that particular scene really inspired me to try to achieve healing (if not physically, at least emotionally) through my writing. For as much as I write about other things all day long, I really haven't tried to write about the Crohn's.
I also love the title! (I am down a foot as well!). Best of luck as you continue to craft this show. And thank you for doing it.
Sincerely,
K.M., Boston
"Jonathan Mirin got it exactly right in his play about Crohn's disease. His description . . . is dead on with our experience of watching our own son struggle with this illness. Jonathan's solo performance includes music, dance, and puppetry, and is a compelling and moving experience. Go see it!"
- Lise Memling & Stephen Golder, parents of Josh Golder, Director of the Crohn’s documentary “True Guts”
"I have known Jonathan since 1990 when I diagnosed his Crohn’s disease at Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. For the past two decades, I’ve had the opportunity to offer him treatment and counsel as well as follow his theatre career. It seems completely appropriate that he now turn his talents to exploring this malady. 28 FEET has the potential to offer comfort, reflection and healing laughter to many, many patients, families and health care providers – myself included!"
- Mark A. Peppercorn, M.D., Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Senior Consultant, Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center