Pubdate: Wed, 08 Nov 2006
Source: Oak Bay News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2006 Oak Bay News
Contact:  http://www.oakbaynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1346
Author: Andrea Lavigne

PLAY TACKLES METH WITH AN IRON FIST

Actors Invite Audience on Stage for Solutions

An interactive play wants audience members to "freeze" crystal meth 
use in the Capital Region.

The YM-YWCA of Greater Victoria's Bridging the Gap Project and 
TheatreWorks are presenting Meth: iron fist Nov. 9-10 to promote 
dialogue about crystal meth.

The forum theatre play engages youths between 15-23 who have been 
affected by substance abuse, either through personal addiction or 
addiction of a loved one.

Director River Chandler has been working with the young adults since 
last Friday. In the six-days leading up to the performances, the 
youths worked through games and drama exercises to explore their own 
experiences with meth and addition. During the workshops the actors 
created characters and developed a plot that mirrors their own 
personal stories.

"The process with the actors is definitely emotional," Chandler said. 
"We're talking about their struggle and we're creating theatre with 
that... The plays are not any one person's story and none of the kids 
actually play themselves. They draw on what we've done for the first 
half of the workshop to create characters and create a story that's realistic."

Each of the short 10-minute plays will be performed once for the 
audience. The stories build to a crisis and offer no solutions. The 
plays are then performed a second time - only now, audience members 
are invited to "freeze" the action at any point, come on stage, 
replace a character and try their own solution to the crisis. This is 
called an intervention.

Unlike other performances, Chandler says the invention aspect of this 
play engages the audience.

"This work does have an emotional impact on the audience as well 
because they're drawn into the world that we create in the plays," 
Chandler said.

"Sometimes people are surprised to find themselves up on stage, but 
they feel compelled by what's going on on stage to do that."

The play is one facet of YM-YWCA's Bridging the Gap project - a 
community response to current trends in crystal meth use.

The project aims to build links between the street community and 
social and health services. They're also trying to help youth 
participants build skills such as writing, graphic design, and 
accessing inter-agency resources.

The youth involved in Meth: iron fist volunteered to be actors.

"They came because they wanted to open up the conversation," Chandler 
explained.

According to Youth Detox in Victoria admissions for crystal meth use 
doubled from 2001-2002. Approximately 70 per cent of the youths 
admitted to the centre are addicted to meth. They've also noticed 
that the average age of users is getting younger. A recent study 
found teens as young as 14 reported trying meth, with a particularly 
large proportion of the teen woman swayed to try meth as an appetite 
suppressant. Counsellors report that gay and lesbian youth are also 
susceptible to crystal meth use.

Meth: iron fist will be held Thursday, Nov. 9 and Friday, Nov. 10 at 
the Metro Studio Theatre, 1411 Quadra St. at 7 p.m. Admission by donation.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine