Image: ATHENS, Ga. — Murder mysteries, improvisation and medical training may not seem like natural partners, but at the University of Georgia they have come together in The Malady Mystery Project — an interdisciplinary collaboration that uses performance to examine the intersections of gender, class, disability and health. The Malady Mystery Project invites medical students, theatre artists and faculty from the "Improvisation for Teaching and Learning" FLC to co-create an immersive, 1890s-inspired mystery. Through improvisation and historical research into the intersections of modern medicine, modern policing, and the mystery genre, participants explore how narratives of illness and care were shaped during the nineteenth century — and how those same structures resonate today. Malady Mystery is co-led by Dr. Amy Baldwin of the AU/UGA Medical Partnership, Dr. Jennifer Marks, Communication Simulation Coordinator with joint appointments in UGA’s Colleges of Pharmacy and Veterinary Medicine, and Dr. Gabrielle Sinclair Compton. Marks and Compton earned a Ph.D. in Theatre and Performance Studies from UGA in 2023 and 2025, respectively. The project was recently featured at a UGA Arts Collaborative event on arts and health, where the leaders demonstrated how improvisation and narrative techniques can translate into medical education. Fourth-year medical student Grace Snuggs also presented the work at the 2025 Kern National Network conference in Minneapolis. “We’re not just building a mystery,” Marks said. “We’re inviting students to think about who gets believed, who gets care, and how stories about illness and disability have always been shaped by structures of power.” Baldwin, who advises UGA’s Medical Improv Student Interest Group and recruited several student devisers, notes that the approach trains clinicians in essential skills. Improvisation requires close listening, presence and adaptability — the same qualities needed at the bedside. The project has been supported by grants such as the Mellon Building Southern Intersectional Futures grant through the Institute for Women's and Gender Studies. The Mellon grant supported funding Dr. Compton’s work in the project, along with research assistant Arushi Raza, an undergraduate psychology major who is heavily involved in the department of theatre and film. Further support has come from the UGA Arts Collaborative, along with resources from the Medical Partnership, which has hosted devising sessions. With more workshops and performances planned, the Malady Mystery Project continues to demonstrate how the arts can sharpen empathy, creativity and clinical practice — while also giving students the chance to solve a mystery or two. Research Areas: Performance Studies
