The Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College is planning a series of performances that use theater to get at issues around drug and alcohol addiction. Redfern has received $25,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts, which will be used - in part - toward the effort.
The keystone of the series will be a staging of Theater of War's "Addiction Performance Project," which features a dramatic reading of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night" followed by a community discussion. O'Neill's play depicts a family struggling with both drug and alcohol abuse.
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The performance aims to break down stigmas associated with addiction and enable conversation at the community level. Redfern's Director Shannon Mayers said theater can be a powerful tool for audiences to see a more human side of drug and alcohol abuse. "It creates a safe space -- it's not technical or medical or clinical," she said. "It's incredibly visceral and emotional."
Redfern will also bringImprobable Players, a Boston-based theater group that educates students about addiction and recovery, to local high schools. Improbable Players employs actors in long-term recovery themselves.
The NEA funds will also go toward other performances exploring culture and identity as part of Redfern's 2017-18 season.