The God Committee

First published on 29 Sep 2009. Updated on 5 Apr 2011.

Professional opportunities for disabled actors are few and far between. Actor Peter Turnbull, who is paraplegic, well recalls the last time he performed in a play for the Ensemble Theatre, 15 years ago. He won acclaim in David Williamson's Emerald City in a role not specifically written for an actor in a wheelchair. "One of the subscribers said to [director] Sandra Bates afterwards, ‘What a wonderful idea to put the ruthless merchant banker in a wheelchair - but why didn't he stand up for the bows?'"

This month Turnbull returns to the Ensemble in The God Committee. American playwright Mark St Germain's 2006 play is set in the boardroom of a New York hospital where doctors, a nurse, a social worker and a priest gather to decide who should be the recipient of a donor heart that is on its way from Philadelphia and must be implanted within four hours.

"The playwright was shocked by the situation that there's 70,000 Americans annually awaiting to receive a new heart but only 10,000 hearts a year become available," Turnbull explains. "We have a short amount of time to decide which of the current patients is the most suitable."

Once the candidates have been narrowed down to the correct blood group, the selection falls to issues such as background, lifestyle, mental health and age. As the seven committee members compare cases, their own divergent moral values come into play.

Turnbull plays Dominick Piero, the hospital's head of social services. The character is written as having a spinal cord injury and Turnbull will perform in his own wheelchair. "Dominick represents the common man in opposition to bureaucracy and money - reminding the specialists of the humanity involved," he says. He's also the play's comic relief. "He's aware of the seriousness of the situation but he makes light of it. It's his way of coping, because it's a pretty heavy responsibility."

The production is being directed by Andrew Doyle, who knew Turnbull when both were acting students at the now defunct Ensemble Studios. "When he graduated Peter was a stunning actor and he would have had a massive career if not for his accident," says Doyle. The general manager of the Ensemble, Victoria Wildie, suggested Turnbull for the part. "It's a good idea because he'll do a great job, and no one has to learn how to be in a wheelchair."

Doyle praises The God Committee as an edge-of-your-seat drama in the mould of 12 Angry Men. "They say at the start of the play ‘we've got 85 minutes to decide who gets the heart' and then the play runs in real time," says Doyle. "That's going to be exciting and it's a really good, strong ethical play that raises a lot of questions."

Turnbull, who appeared Crocodile Dundee and in TV series including GP, sustained his spinal injuries in 1987 in a traffic accident. He was simply crossing the road and considers himself lucky to have survived.

"I had already lived one lifetime; I was 37," he says. "For me, this life now is a bonus and, if, you like, I've just turned 21." Nick Dent