SHATTERING EFFECT OF DRUGS

A Renamed Version Of A Hard-Hitting Play Is Back In Agassiz In October.

Vancouver-based Headlines Theatre asks how communities can use the
theatre to unlock the knowledge that resides within them to respond
to issues of addiction at a grassroots level.

Shattering begins with the premise that addicts come from somewhere:
our communities. It is also within our communities that solutions
dwell. By combining the multi-layered issue of addiction with Forum
Theatre, Shattering engages our collective creativity. Audience
members are invited to stop the action of the play, and replace
characters onstage providing an opportunity to initiate dialogue and
serve as a safe testing ground for experimenting with new ideas.

In late 2006 the production (which was then called Meth) toured 26
communities across British Columbia to tremendous critical and
audience acclaim. While the play and the cast remain identical, the
title has since been changed to Shattering. During the booking of the
Western Canada tour they heard from many sponsors that they
understood how the play only used meth as a window into addiction but
still wished the title was not the name of a particular drug.
Shattering works on many levels: how individuals, families,
communities shatter as a result of addiction; also how the project is
about shattering pre-conceptions about the issue and approaches to the issue.

After receiving numerous requests to bring the play to additional
communities, Headlines will now take the production, with the
original cast, back on the road.

In early 2006, Headlines Theatre was invited to a meeting on the
Skwah Reserve in Chilliwack. Out of this meeting came a request to
create a Forum Theatre piece that would deal with the alarming rise
of drug use.

Headlines set to work creating a play that dug beneath the symptoms
to address the very roots of addiction, the day-to-day moments and
relationships that set the stage for the addictive behaviours. Out of
workshops with both native and non-native participants, the play was created.

- - Headlines is at the Seabird Island Indian Band Office Community
Gym, 2895 Chowat Rd., in Agassiz at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8. Call
604-997-9907 for tickets, and visit
www.headlinestheatre.com/shattering for more information.