Hatboro-Horsham Community to Stage Addict

When Be a Part of the Conversation, a nonprofit organization formed to increase awareness about drug and alcohol use, wanted to stage a realistic play about the impact of substance abuse among young people, scenes involving Quaaludes and steroids seemed a bit dated.

So, Hatboro-Horsham High School English teacher and Theatre Club Advisor Kristin Hannings began working tirelessly to revise playwright Jerome McDonough’s 30-year-old play, Addict. Dramatic Publishing, which owns the rights to the play, intends to publish Hannings’ updated version, as well as recognizing the efforts of Be a Part of the Conversation on each copy of the script.

Hannings finished the outline, the plot and is finalizing the dialogue scene by scene with help from the 10-member cast.

“It’s really cool because they can have ownership of the piece,” Hannings said of the cast, adding that she asks students, “’Is this line real?’ Their opinions and their voices matter. It is always a dialogue.”

Other efforts to ensure authenticity include seeking advice from treatment professionals and recovering addicts. “The stories and drugs of abuse are localized as well as being current,” said Rubenstein. “This version might not resonate if it were performed in another part of the country, or at any other time.”

Kim Rubenstein, Be a Part of the Conversation executive director, said Hannings’ adaptation is effective.

Given that one of the 10 main characters is a standout lacrosse player whose heroin use stemmed from prescription painkillers following an injury, Rubenstein said Hannings’ writing resonates with many young people in the area whose journeys are very similar.

In addition to heroin addiction, the play, a compilation of vignettes, touches on abuse of alcohol, Adderall, Molly, synthetic marijuana and huffing.

And while the scenes are “extremely intense,” particularly for those in recovery, “the actors are not acting out drug use. You won’t see paraphernalia or drugs as props,” according to Rubenstein.

This will not be the first performance of Addict at Hatboro-Horsham High School. Rubenstein said she approached Hannings about staging the play in 2012 after reading about a high school performance in Eugene, Oregon, and doing further research on the play. Since Hannings advises the high school’s theatre club, she was an obvious first contact.

“I could just tell she was in,” Rubenstein recalls of her first meeting with Hannings. “Her dedication to this project has blown me away. She has put in so much time and energy. This is really important work and a daunting responsibility. We knew this would be something special from the beginning, especially once we had the cast in place.”

As is the case with all Be a Part of the Conversation events, people in recovery, as well as experts in the field of addiction will be on hand to lead breakout sessions following each performance (March 19 and March 21 at Hatboro-Horsham High School).

For Hannings, the play is a “conversation starter.”

“It’s easy to connect and relate to the characters,” Hannings said.

If you go

Be a Part of the Conversation will stage Jerome McDonough’s Addict, adapted by Kristin Hannings, on March 19 and March 21 at Hatboro-Horsham High School, 899 Horsham Road in Horsham beginning at 6:30 p.m. Due to intense content and language, the play is not recommended for children under age 13. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. For more information visit www.conversation.zone.