Tackling the addiction issue

A PLAY about a teenage drug addict, based on a true story, opens at the Half Moon Theatre on November 7 as part of Drugs Awareness Week. Cracking Lives is the brainchild of Corkwoman Alma Kickham, whose son succumbed to addiction in his teens.

Kickham, who performs as the mother in the play, kept a journal throughout that troubled time, recording what John (not his real name) and the family experienced before he went to rehab.

“The journal was my way of writing down all the pain and suffering that was going on,” says Kickham. “I approached Laura Daly, a director, and told her I was thinking of getting someone to write a play and asked her if she would direct it. Laura knew the ins and outs of the story. She got some actors together and we started to workshop the play.”