3 May 2005

‘P’ Play at Waitakere

The anti-‘P’ play will be performed to a community audience at Waitakere College at 7pm on 19 May. 10 Foot Tall & Bullet Proof (performed by young, professional, Tai Tokerau actors) reinforces community resilience and the individual’s ability to make informed decisions and steer clear of drug abuse and addiction.

Waitakere City’s Advocates for Children and Youth Linda Cooper and Ewen Gilmour say the battle against drugs needs every bit of help available.

“These are fictional characters and fictional events – but the reality is that this plot is being played out every day in our own city. This is an opportunity for high school students, their support networks and anyone in the community concerned about P, to listen and learn about the drug problem.,” says Councillor Cooper.

“From a mother’s perspective, the curse of P is killing them as well,” she says. Councillor Gilmour, who opened the CAYAD conference on Youth and Drugs last month says ‘P’ is “available at every high school in the city. It’s a really scary thing… I don’t have a lot of time to help addicts, but I do have time to help the youth,” he says.

The play follows the testimony and confession of a young woman and follows her downfall from a very normal, loved and popular high school student, through innocent moments of being an unwitting pleasure seeker, to finally, becoming a burnt out slave to P.

The play presents multiple endings designed to stimulate audience discussion.

Safe Waitakere’s CAYAD (Community Action on Youth and Drugs) is a sponsor of the P abuse prevention play and the accompanying programme aimed at 15-18 year olds. It will also play at high schools in Waitakere. This project is in line with National Drug Policy aims following an “education not propaganda” approach.

ENDS

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