Special Evening Performance of “Drug Story Theater” in Cohasset on May 5: Parents and Kids Encouraged to Attend
Lifesaving Narcan Training to be offered in a private setting
Cohasset, Mass., April 16, 2016 – All are invited to a free presentation of Drug Story Theater in the Cohasset Middle/High School Auditorium on Thursday, May 5 at 6:30 p.m. While Cohasset Middle and High School students will attend separate presentations of the show that day during assembly periods, the evening show is for adults and children age 10 and up. All three performances are made possible through generous funding by the Cohasset Education Foundation (CEF), with coordination by the Safe Harbor Coalition and the Cohasset Middle/High School administration and health education team.
About Drug Story Theater
Drug Story Theater was first performed in 2015 in Plymouth and has been sharing its real teen experiences to audiences ever since. The actors are all in recovery and are able to share their personal stories of how they got in and out of drugs. The concept is the brainchild of Dr. Joe Shrand who realized that school assemblies about drug abuse presented by adults to kids just weren’t working. “So the treatment of one prevents the addiction of many,” says Shrand, a Marshfield resident and medical director of CASTLE (Clean And Sober Teens Living Empowered), a short-term treatment facility in Brockton. The presentation includes the stories of five teens and two parents and each have a story to share that in at least one way will resonate with each person in the audience.
Drug Story Theater takes teenagers in the early stages of recovery from drugs and alcohol, teaches them improvisational theater and engages them in psychodrama, to explore their personal stories. The teens then create their own shows about the seduction of, addiction to, and recovery from drugs and alcohol. They weave their stories into a theatrical piece and perform for middle and high school audiences so the treatment of one becomes the prevention of many.
The program’s innovative approach to decreasing adolescent substance abuse capitalizes on and integrates current knowledge of adolescent brain development into all stages of the program: from therapeutic group sessions, improvisational exercises, and family involvement, to story development, script writing, rehearsing, and culminating in performing the teen’s own stories in front of live audiences. After each performance, teens participate in a Questions & Answers period with the audience.
About Safe Harbor Cohasset Coalition
Since July 2014, Safe Harbor Cohasset has been working to promote awareness and implement resources to help make an impact on the substance abuse in the community. Co-founded by Christine Murphy and Marita Carpenter, who is also president of the South Shore Service League, the group has over 60 founding members from across the spectrum in the community, including town and school leaders, teachers, nurses, parents, clergy, police and fire personnel, as well as concerned citizens.
Since then, the group has worked to foster a strong and inclusive community that encourages healthy, educated and responsible choices about drug and alcohol use. The mission is supported by evidenced based, prevention focused, sustainable policies and programs. To learn more, and to find resources for both parents and teens, visit the Safe Harbor website at safeharborcohasset.org. Keep up to date on the latest news and trends by following Safe Harbor on Facebook at www.facebook.com/safeharborcohasset and on Twitter @cohsafeharbor.Cohasset