New Hampshire Theatre Project Presents A Wider Circle on Jan. 21: Film Screening and Community Discussion on Families Navigating Addiction

New Hampshire Theatre Project's
Elephant-in-the-Room Series®
presents
 
A Wider Circle: Families Navigating Addiction
 Film Screening Followed by a Community Discussion
 
by Mary Ellen Hedrick
 
In Collaboration with Safe Harbor Discovery Center, Seacoast Mental Health Center and the Greater Portsmouth Recovery Coalition
 
Wednesday, January 21 - 6:00 pm
 
COMMUNITY PANELISTS
Jason Blackburn, Seacoast Mental Health Center
Mark Lefebvre, Greater Portsmouth Recovery Coalition
Mariah Smith, Safe Harbor Recovery Center
 
SPONSORED BY
Kennebunk Savings Bank
Elliot and Wendy Weiss
Jennifer Kinsey and John Bunker

The ongoing opioid crisis and its effect on families is an issue that has significant consequences for New Hampshire communities.  Playwright and civics teacher Mary-Ellen Hedrick’s play A Wider Circle focuses on the devastating effects of heroin addiction for both individuals and their families. This program has been presented in communities throughout New Hampshire and was a featured performance at the annual NH Behavioral Health Summit of the NH Alcohol & Drug Abuse Counselors Association in December 2019.

I want to express my appreciation… The play was impactful and insightful, and the discussion afterward engaging and useful. I support your effort to provide opportunities for folks to come together to talk about what needs to be talked about. The use of a theatre piece to create an atmosphere of understanding and empathy is terrific. – EITR Audience Member

 Following the filmed play reading of A Wider Circle, a facilitated audience discussion will give community members the opportunity to explore the sometimes uncomfortable topic of substance misuse, and will encourage honest conversations about our hidden "elephants.”

About the Elephant-in-the-Room Series®:
Created in 2017, EITRS® presents play readings and community conversations about topics that we, as a society, often feel uncomfortable discussing. Following the video or reading, a facilitated audience conversation focuses on attitudes about difficult ethical issues involved, and our responsibility as a society to bring these issues out of the shadows and into the cultural mainstream.  As an integral aspect of each EITRS®? presentation, NHTP collaborates with multiple social service organizations to develop these programs, and provide resources for getting help or accessing further education.

In the current climate of alienation and miscommunication, these events use live theatre to create a safe and nurturing environment that encourages courageous and transformational conversations about our hidden "elephants," and emphasizes the importance of building empathy by looking at multiple points of view, much as the fabled "blind men" trying to understand the elephant in their own way.

New Hampshire Theatre Project Presents A Wider Circle on Jan. 21: Film Screening and Community Discussion on Families Navigating Addiction