In Sex After Death, Mark Lawson has fertilized what could have been a routine sentimental daddy's-dead-but-life-goes-on plot with unexpected twists that make the whole thing a tight and very enjoyable 45 minutes of compelling entertainment. He takes us into the ethical issues of concern in the use of the dead man's sperm and has several characters attempting to act on what "feels right" to them.
The listener might wonder at the general morality and selfishness involved in extensive medical intervention to produce a child in the couple that is for one reason or another unable to conceive. Where are we at now, 4, 6 billion? How hard should we work to produce more? Or is it all about personal desire? Is that what is right, what is important? Does that 'Feels Right"? But here we are in the 21st Century and we need to make the decisions on the fly, without the benefit of longstanding human tradition. In olden times, supposedly, the folk acted as they always had within the culture of the tribe. No more.
The play doesn't really offer the answers but presents the questions. The listener is free to mull them over on his or her own after hearing a few sides of the debate presented in the course of the drama. Or not worry the issues at all and just enjoy the well written, acted, and produced drama. I think it will take you where you don't expect to go. The ending, the final line in the play, is very satisfying.
The Afternoon Play BBC Radio 4 Sex After Death is available to "Listen Again" through Wednesday Oct 17, 2007.
