DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND WE HAVE ADDED AN EXTRA DATE TO #HEROINtour ; LIBERTY HALL, Feb 9th, 8pm
Immediate Release
BY POPULAR DEMAND
THEATREclub’s award winning
“HEROIN”
Dublin, Liberty Hall, One Night Only
By Special Invitation of Independent Dublin City Councillor Gary Gannon
Followed by a Post Show Discussion;
“Addiction in the Inner City, 30 Years On - What has changed?”
Liberty Hall, Monday 9th February 2015, 8pm
★★★★★ - Sunday Times ★★★★ - Irish Times
THEATREclub will end their national tour of HEROIN with a once off performance at Dublin’s Liberty Hall on Monday February 9th, by special invitation of inner city Councillor Gary Gannon. This will be a community evening of galvanising discussion and debate.
THEATREclub believe art can start conversations that send ripples towards social change, so after the performance there will be a discussion looking to trace the recent history of addiction, as well as new trends hitting the inner city today, such as crystal meth.
Gary Gannon said of today’s announcement “This a play that really grabbed me. It made me feel instantly uncomfortable & that’s a huge achievement. It made me think and it inspired me to challenge my own surroundings. Above all else it’s an incredible piece of work and I want to help share it with the world, starting with my own community.”
THEATREclub said “We are thrilled to have the support of Liberty Hall and Gary Gannon to bring this play home from National Tour to a building of such significance in terms of the narrative of social justice in our country. It is important that there are artistic explorations of the complexities of these issues. This event will the opposite of something like TV3’s recent “Breaking Crime” series”
The show charts the social history of the drug in Dublin from the 1960s to the present day. It shows how heroin came into Dublin and details the three heroin epidemics that unfolded in the nation’s capital, while successive governments told us it wasn’t happening. We all know heroin is no longer something that only happens in Dublin. The history of the drug as told in HEROIN is been repeated in smaller towns and cities across Ireland. History is repeating itself, on your doorstep.
This is a performance which traces a history of HEROIN, but crucially what is really at the heart of this story is value. How we as humans value each other. The play touches on issues of housing, society, mental health, economy and citizenship, and asks an audience to really consider what makes people take drugs in the first instance as well as what should be done about it.
The show does not present any right or wrong answers, but rather tries to help us to see each other, and what we have done, and what we should do next.
The play, which was made in 2010 and has been touring Ireland & Europe since, was written by Grace Dyas, an artist & activist from inner city Dublin - the epicentre of Ireland’s HEROIN epidemic. Here is Grace speaking on RTE’s “We Need To Talk About Ireland” (Click here) and here is a talk she gave about finding a syringe in her garden when she was just 9 years old (click here) .
These early experiences formed the inspiration for the play, which was developed over two years; “I wanted to make a piece that provoked a dialogue about the current status of heroin users in our society, particularly the social norm that had developed of an accepted otherness of drug users. I was shocked to hear how many people used the term ‘junkies’ and how little understanding there was about the complexities of addiction. I wanted to make a piece that created empathy in a way that stopped people from using those terms without even knowing it. I wanted to make something engaging, that wouldn’t feel like a news report or a history lesson. HEROIN is a felt experience. It helps you to feel it - which is different to just knowing it. ” says Grace.
Grace started working with Rialto Community Drug Team in 2008. She met with clients and spent time in the community. She developed a relationship with the Men’s Group who were interested in devising a piece around drug use. They decided that they would work together, Grace would help them to develop their piece if they would consult with her on hers. When it came to rehearsals, these men would frequently sit in and offer feedback. “Once a week, the actors in ‘HEROIN’ would watch parts of the piece I was devising with the Mens’ Group and vice versa.”
Time & Date: 9th February, Liberty Hall, Dublin, 8pm
Ticket Prices: Tickets: €20 Full Price, €15 Concession, €10 Student/Artist
(Tickets will be available through Project Arts Centre on www.projectartscentre.ie or reserved through info@theatreclub.ie)
€5 Community Rate - Book through Gary Gannon 0861780149
For more, contact Shane Byrne, Producer on 0861942355 // info@theatreclub.ie
HEROIN is on National Tour around Ireland
30th January, Lyric Theatre, Belfast… Book Here //
31st January, Down Arts Centre, Downpatrick… Book Here //
2nd February, Town Hall Theatre, Galway… Book Here //
3rd & 4th February, Everyman Palace, Cork… Booking Open Soon Call The Venue for Details //
6th February, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford… Booking Open Soon Call The Venue for Details // 7th February, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise… Book Here
THEATREclub
THEATREclub are Shane Byrne, Doireann Coady, Gemma Collins, Grace Dyas, Emma Fraser, Lauren Larkin, Barry O’Connor and Eoin Winning.
We work together to make art about us and the people and things around us. We think that theatre can change the world, by starting conversations that send ripples towards social change.
Created with fun and love, and framed by manic ambition our work is visually electrifying, drenched in substance and socially engaged.
We make theatre, performance, film and large scale participation projects. We are committed to an egalitarian process of making. We collaborate with a broad spectrum of people, from everyday experts to government ministers, from musicians to visual artists.
Press for HEROIN
“Heroin manages to convey the needle and Irish society’s wilful ignorance of the damage done” - IRISH THEATRE MAGAZINE
“[The show] effectively charts the rise of heroin, and society’s inability to deal with it, from the late 1970s to the present day…. this is a tough play about hard times and a horrible existence that is handled with skill and ambition.” - THE IRISH TIMES
“the feel of ‘Reeling in the Years’ on Smack.” - WRITING.IE