Graduate School Never Prepared Me for This: Reflections on the challenges of research based theatre

This paper describes and discusses the development of our research-based dramatic presentation, Handle with Care: Women Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer . I then reflect upon how engagement in this project has challenged me to extend beyond traditional researcher role(s). In bridging the worlds of research and theatre, I have taken on the roles of: researcher as beginner, researcher as actor, researcher as two-bit hustler, researcher as worrier, researcher as one who suffers, researcher as companion, researcher as agent of social transformation, and researcher as conveyor of hope.