Stage Jitters

Earlier this week, I attended a performance of Meth, an interactive play put on by people who've either struggled with crystal meth addiction or who have been touched by family or close friends who have. The play itself ran 22 minutes and admission was pay-what-you-can. Once the initial play was over, the director came onstage to give us instruction on how to interact the second time around.

The play started over again from the first scene and as audience members, we were encouraged to yell 'STOP' when a particular character could be changed and bring a sense of safety into the play's scene. Whether male or female, anyone in the audience could find something that they personally would change to better that character's circumstance.

The first scene commenced and the audience was silent. The director stopped towards the end and reminded us that anytime something didn't seem right, to please feel free to intervene. In other words, we had missed our cue already into the early part of the play!

Once the scene got underway again, someone did yell 'stop', came onto the stage, wore a sash containing a hidden microphone and proceeded to act through a better way. After the scene ended, the director appeared and gave commentary and the audience applauded. One by one, brave audience members found a way to change the characters behavior in the script and came up to try their hand. About 1/3 through the play, I felt a scene hit me square in the face, and yelled 'STOP'. Then up on stage, where I stared into the full house and started to think to myself "What have I done???!!"

Sure enough, I got my sash with mic set up over my shoulder, and went away at it. Crazy! In the scene I chose, I was interfering with a young male who was on a high and about to storm out of the house where he had been invited by a good friend and her family for dinner. I think I was up there for five minutes but it felt like a good half hour! Audience applauded, director asked a few questions, made his observations and thanked me. Back in the audience, I felt a rush going through me after having been up there, and I felt happy but nervous as hell having done it.

Meth runs through December 10 at the Japanese Hall on Alexander Street, the absolute heart of the drug-addicted neighbourhood of Vancouver known as East Hastings.