Take drugs seriously – a week of action in Bristol

Come and join us for an exclusive performance of Zones of Avoidance ~ an award winning production written and performed by poet and Anyone’s Child member, Maggie Sawkins & directed by Mark C. Hewitt.

Fusing real life testimonies with vivid language and beautiful film Zones of Avoidance is a powerfully moving account of coping with addiction in the 21st century
Winner of the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry
Performed and written by Maggie Sawkins, directed by Mark C Hewitt.

Monday 2nd October, 8pm. Bristol Improv Theatre, Clifton, BS8 1LP

Zones of Avoidance explores a mother’s quest to understand her daughter’s descent into addiction. It tells the heart-rending story of ‘Sunny Girl’, whose substance misuse triggers schizophrenia, with devastating consequences. Fusing the real life testimonies of addicts in recovery with vivid language and evocative film, Zones of Avoidance gives a powerfully moving account of a mother caught up in the drama of her daughter’s addiction, taking her to a place of ‘tough love’ … and beyond.

The writer, Maggie Sawkins noted, ‘When you’re affected by someone with addiction there seems to be only two options – one, the most natural is to try and rescue; the other is to cut yourself off, demonise the person you love, transform yourself into a wall”. During my research I discovered the largest wall in the universe is called ‘The Coma Wall’. Beyond this is the ‘Zone of Avoidance’ – a useful metaphor for my idea of being cut off from your emotions. As well as being an intensely personal story, the work is also a soul-searching meditation on the perennial nature of addiction.’

Much of the material was adapted from diary entries and unsent letters written over a period of fifteen years. Maggie explains, ‘When someone close to you is gripped by addiction you’re always expecting the knock on the door. Writing was my way of keeping a record.’

Zones of Avoidance will be performed in collaboration with Bristol-based charity Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Transform works to save lives and protect people by bringing about the legal regulation of drug products, producers, suppliers and users.

Drugs can be dangerous. But does banning them cause more harm than good?

The performance will be followed by a debate led by Danny Kushlick, the founder of Transform.

Join the discussion about what a new approach to drugs could mean for Bristol, your family and your community. Find out why legally regulated drugs, supplied by doctors and pharmacists, would reduce the harms caused by drugs.