Drama centres on ripple effects of cannabis use

A PLAY centred on the dangers of cannabis use, and performed by two men in recovery from drug addiction, will be held in the Jobstown Community Centre on Wednesday, March 29, at 7.30pm.

Titled ‘Cannabis – Conversations Through Drama’, the play follows on from a wider theatre event hosted by the Jobstown-based Tallaght Rehabilitation Project (TRP) last year.

The event, called ‘A Celebration of Recovery with TRP’, was held in The Civic last September and saw members of the rehab project perform all manner of impactful dramatic pieces.

While all of the performances were well received, the play centred on cannabis use received a particularly strong response, leading TRP to decide to hold standalone performances of it.

Pat Daly, the manager of TRP, told The Echo: “It was part of our show in The Civic last year celebrating Recovery Month.

“It’s written by drama teacher Thomas O’Reilly, about the effect cannabis can have on the person who is using it, their family, and the wider community as a whole.

“It was electric stuff, and it went down like a bomb with the people who were there.”

The play is based on real events, and it was devised after Professor Bobby Smyth, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, reached out to TRP when he heard about their event at The Civic.

A patient’s father had written a piece about his child’s cannabis use, which Prof Smyth then passed on to TRP to inform the play.

“When Prof Smyth heard about what we were doing in The Civic, he asked us if we would perform it on stage,” explained Mr Daly.

“It had a huge effect on the people in The Civic, and the local schools got to hear about it and wanted to know if we’d present it in local schools.”

Plans are now in place for ‘Cannabis – Conversations Through Drama’ to be performed in local schools, however the performance on March 29 is open for the entire community to attend.

The event will give attendees the chance to see the ripple effects of cannabis use, with the drama being brought to life by performers and TRP graduates Peter Monahan and Sean O’Shaughnessy.

“We’d encourage people in the community who are interested to come along and have a look,” said Mr Daly.

“The performers are Peter Monahan and Sean O’Shaughnessy, they’re both from Tallaght and they’re graduates of TRP who want to give back to the community.”

The central focus of the piece will be the potentially damaging effects that cannabis can have which, according to Mr Daly, many people are unaware of or downplay.

“I’ve worked in this field for a long time, and I’ve seen the effects of weed in particular,” he said.

“I’ve seen the psychological effects, and psychological harm, like psychosis, and weed is also highly addictive.

“We’ve seen people who’ve developed psychosis because of weed, or who have lost their jobs or just stopped working, where weed just consumed their whole life.”

The thought-provoking drama, which is free to attend, will also be followed by a Q&A session with a panel of experts, and support and harm reduction information will be available on the evening.