Stethoscope Stage Brings Theatre, Medicine into Conversation at Amon Carter Museum
What can theatre bring to a conversation about health?
That question is at the heart of Stethoscope Stage, a TCU initiative that uses storytelling and performance to explore timely health topics. Now in its third festival, Stethoscope Stage moves beyond TCU’s campus for the first time with a performance at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.
The 2026 festival brings together TCU Theatre students, faculty and medical professionals to examine body image, health and GLP-1 use through staged readings of original monologues and short plays, followed by an expert-led discussion and audience Q&A.
Founded by Ayvaunn Penn, assistant professor in the Department of Theatre, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stethoscope Stage creates a forum for different perspectives and lived experiences to be shared through performance.
“Theatre and storytelling as a whole take us past stats, facts and cold information into the warmth of humanity,” Penn said.
From Page to Stage
Selected by a review committee from TCU’s Department of Theatre and Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, the 2026 scripts come from writers across the U.S. and abroad and range from comedic
to serious.
Junior theatre major Avery Tarbet is minoring in deaf and hard of hearing studies in TCU’s Davies College of Communication Sciences & Disorders in the Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences. For her, performing in a staged reading places particular emphasis on language and storytelling.
“There is much more focus put on our words and the intention behind them, since that is what we are using to tell these stories,” Tarbet said. “It has been very rewarding to get to play into characters that each have their own story, belief and obstacle.”
Following the performance, a panel of academic and medical professionals builds on
the stories presented onstage through discussion and audience questions.
Connecting With the Fort Worth Community
Moving Stethoscope Stage to the Amon Carter Museum expands the festival’s community
reach while introducing a new visual arts component: for the first time, artwork inspired
by the festival theme has been commissioned as a backdrop for the stage readings.
“Since a key objective of Stethoscope Stage is serving the public, it is a huge step forward to transitioning this event to an artistic community hub,” Penn said.
For Tarbet, bringing the performance into a new setting demonstrates how theatre can reach audiences in unexpected places.
“There are many untold stories to be presented, and people may not know their impact until they are faced with them in unpredictable spaces,” she said.
Ultimately, Penn hopes audiences leave with greater knowledge of the topic. Tarbet hopes the performance sparks something equally important: curiosity and the desire to learn more.