Hannah Wunsch

I am a graduate of the John Burgess playwriting course (London, UK), a member of the Actor’s Gym (NYC) and of the Dramatists Guild (US). I have written two full-length plays. The first (THE CODEMAKER, had a rehearsed reading at the Jermyn Street Theatre (Dir. Stephen Unwin, January 2025). I am the author of the book The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Medical. My writing has appeared in many journals and newspapers, including Time, Globe & Mail, and the Literary Review of Canada. I am also a Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City. As a female physician, I hope to bring a different perspective to the stories I tell.

WEBSITE AND SOCIAL MEDIA
Website: https://hannahwunsch.com/index.html
IG: @wunschcritcare FB: hannah.wunsch


MORE ABOUT ME
I spent the COVID-19 pandemic caring for critically ill patients in the ICU. As the pandemic wound down, the first play I saw was Bess Wohl’s CAMP SIEGFRIED at the Old Vic. As the lights went down on the audience, and the actors appeared on the stage, I felt the physical presence of everyone around me – a feeling I hadn’t had for years. As the play began I started to cry, overwhelmed by the pure pleasure of the communal experience, and the sense of connectedness with the humans standing on the stage. In that moment, I knew that I needed to “do” theater – to be a part of creating such intense bonds between strangers, and to give voice to the stories that are important to me.

WHAT I'M WORKING ON
I’m developing a full-length play, SHARP EDGES, which explores the experiences of women in medicine. It follows a female orthopedic surgeon who fights to be heard and respected in a male-dominated workplace while navigating the challenges of starting a family. But as the pressure mounts, she’s forced to confront her own inability to truly listen, leading her to uncover a devastating secret.

KEYWORDS
Women, medicine, contemporary