Removable Parts

Removable Parts is a tenderly dysfunctional music-theater piece that deals with the phenomenon of voluntary amputation, a real-life condition in which people have a compulsive desire to remove an otherwise-healthy limb.  They call themselves “wannabe amputees,” and they believe that self-imposed amputation is the only way they can be whole.

Removable Parts is performed by Corey Dargel (the singer) and Kathleen Supové (the pianist), directed by Emma Griffin with dances by Yvan Greenberg and production design by Raquel Davis.

Removable Parts takes an empathetic, Oliver Sacks-style

approach to voluntary amputa

tion. In fact, Oliver Sacks himself once experienced something similar to what wannabe-amputees experience every day, which inspired his book, A Leg to Stand On. Sacks writes:

I was bewildered by an experience, a sort of “alienation” of an injured leg, which I could not comprehend or communicate to my doctors. My only relief was to write about it.

Sometimes people who suffer temporary paralysis of a limb — after a traumatic accident, for example — come to view the limb as an invasive, foreign entity, even though they understand logically that it’s still a part of their body.  This delusion could be caused by a temporary abnormality in the brain brought on by the trauma.  This same neurological abnormality might be a constant presence for wannabe-amputees.

The composer and writer of the show, Corey Dargel, based his lyrics on documented case-studies of wannabe-amputees.  His characters are certainly quirky, as you would expect from a show about voluntary amputation, but their idiosyncratic behaviors and strange desires are subsumed into larger issues of disconnection and longing. As they tell their stories and sing their songs, you may be surprised to find your heart breaking for them.  The New York Times‘ theater and dance critic, Claudia LaRocco, writes:

Amputation, especially when it’s self-imposed, is a loaded and problematic metaphor. Mr. Dargel and company handle it with an intelligent grace that is as moving as it is impressive.

To read more about Removable Parts, to hear songs, and to see videos and photos from the productions, visit www.removableparts.com.