We’re
Number One, We’re Number One!! Yes, the state of Ohio is at the top in the
nation…when it comes to deaths from opioid overdoses (Ohio Department of
Health, 2014). Abuse of opioids, those drugs derived from opium, has become a
way of life for many here in Buckeye land. So it’s appropriate that a play
addressing that particularly horrific and confounding problem should have its
world premiere here.
Although
it’s sometimes wise to steer clear of plays that have an obvious healthcare or
public service message, local playwright Gregory Vovos has crafted a powerful
piece of theater in How To Be A
Respectable Junkie. This one-person, 90-minute piece is a journey through
the woes of a white-collar fellow who’s become hooked and can’t (or won’t) give
it up.
Brian
is a 30-something dude who lives in his mother’s basement because he wants to
spend every dime of his salary on the drugs he lives for. But he’s coming to
the end of his rope, so he’s decided to share his hard-won knowledge, expressed
in the title, on a video recorder he’s recently stolen.
As
he talks and rants to the camera, he exchanges “dialog” with his dog Hope,
given to him by his mother on the off chance a pet might alter his doomed
trajectory. We never see the yapping dog, which is kept in a crate covered with
blankets, but we see plenty of Brian as he decomposes before our eyes.
Playwright
Vovos clearly knows his way around this territory, and the details he uses to
explain how druggies shoot up, avoid detection, and deal with relatives is
brutally precise. The amazingly talented actor Christopher M. Bohan brings
Brian to painful life, as Brian confesses his weaknesses and rages at
“earthlings” for not understanding how difficult it is to fight this addiction.
The
play is nearly perfect right up until the last ten minutes, when Vovos
surrenders to that bugaboo of many playwrights: over-explaining. As a result,
the show limps to a conclusion as the eventually healthy Brian delivers a
mini-seminar on how he has a new purpose in life, all to the tune of “Amazing
Grace.”
The
ending, well-meaning though it is, is way too pat. But most of Junkie is right on the mark, showing us
earthlings how it feels to be stuck on the business end of those deadly
needles.
How
To Be A Respectable Junkie
Through
July 2 at Dobama Theatre, 2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3396,
dobama.org
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