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.