Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance

As the opioid crisis tightens its grip on the United States, IUB faculty members Peter Gil-Sheridan and Jonathan Michaelsen have collaborated with a cast of 7 to create a new play about the addiction epidemic in this country. The company has interviewed addicts in recovery, first responders, scientists, law enforcement, public defenders and prosecutors, community organizers, mental health professionals, and doctors to better understand how addiction happens and more importantly how we as a community can respond humanely.

The resulting project, a new play written by Playwriting professor Peter Gil-Sheridan for the new "From the Ground Up" Series brings a small Indiana community struggling with addiction into focus. It is the story of the very real human struggle to cope with the difficulties of life, difficulties created and exacerbated by a culture that is marginalizing and isolating. The play challenges the stigma of addiction and offers a new perspective on what it means to be human.  The piece is in line with some of the most progressive thinking about dependence from the field of medicine and psychology, showing the many faces of addiction.