Play tackles problem of meth addiction

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Headlines Theatre in Vancouver has just launched its latest project, an interactive theatre piece that involves the audience in an examination of methamphetamine addition.

"This interactive forum is about the root causes of addiction," said Jen Cressy, publicist for the theatre company. "So, basically we're using meth addictions as a starting point and a lens, if you will, through which to look at addiction in general."

For 25 years, Headlines Theatre has been engaging people around the world in hundreds of workshops and performances like the Meth project. The cast of Meth includes people who have struggled and overcome addiction to meth, a chemical stimulant that is highly addictive and highly destructive. The drug can make the people who use it irritable, paranoid or aggressive and can cause irreparable damage to the brain, cardiovascular problems and even death.

Director David Diamond describes the production as a way to focus on meth and a way to talk about addiction. He said the idea for this production evolved out of a meeting a year ago hosted by the Stolo Nation. The meeting was held to talk about meth in the community and how it has become "the new plague" on reserves.

Headlines was asked if they could do a production on meth similar to a project they did in 1992 called Out of the Silence, which focused on family violence.

"Out of the Silence really opened up the issue of family violence in a way that let communities really talk about it in a really deep level," said Diamond.

Diamond was surprised at the meeting by the impact the 1992 production still had.

"The conversations there really made the hair on the back of my neck really stand up because people in communities all over the province, like Elders, still talk about Out of the Silence and how it was a pivot point," said Diamond. "So, we took this invitation very seriously."

Diamond and the Headlines team traveled back to their Vancouver office and began talking to different people all over the province to see if this was a good idea. "Well, the response was overwhelmingly positive so we started raising money and here we are," he said.

Meth is a short play, approximately 20 minutes long, that builds to a crisis and then turns to the audience as if to say, "Well, what would you do?" It is then performed a second time during which the audience can actually stop the action of the play, replace one of the cast of six characters on stage and try out ideas.

"Part of that interaction is understanding the struggle of the individual characters," said Cressy.

All of the cast members of Meth have either been directly involved with the drug or have relatives who are or have been affected by the drug. The cast includes Kayla Cardinal, Jordan Fields, Cody Gray, Betsy Ludwig, Sophie Merasty and Herb Varley.

Through much research, Headlines has found that meth is currently a very serious problem. "It's reached into a lot of urban and rural areas very quickly," Cressy said." The best thing to do is to look at why people are predisposed to addiction and to really take aim and to be proactive about it. With this project, it's a look at how communities can actually have some kind of input to empower people and to look at the human dynamics that lead to addiction and create predispositions for addiction. So, this is really getting to the nitty gritty of it and also to see what roles we all play in the lives of people who become addicted."

Cressy admits that the call from the First Nation communities got the ball in motion, but meth isn't a problem just limited to reserves.

"Part of the impetus for the project was not only to look at the issue but to bring communities out of isolation from one another across the province," said Cressy. "This is happening on reserves but it's also happening in small towns. We hear it's happening in Prince Rupert, Prince George and Kamloops. So, bringing these communities together, the reserve community and the town community and saying, "Look, we're all going through the same thing. Why don't we meet under one roof and use this play as a means of dealing with it?"

Headlines launched Meth at the Japanese Hall in Vancouver on Nov. 30, where it will run until Dec. 10. It will then tour throughout B.C. from Jan. 15 to Mar. 4, 2007.

For more information about Meth, call (604) 871-0508 or visit the theatre Web site at www.headlinestheatre.com.