Arts Friday | Illicit | Revealing The Lives of Illicit Drug Users

A & E, BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver, Vancouver Votes 2018, VanRamblings

Illicit: Stories from Vancouver’s harm reduction movement is a community-engaged arts-based project developed and led by residents of our region brought together by the harm reduction movement, and the ongoing opioid crisis impacting on our region’s most vulnerable citizens.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

Please listen to the audio above of the interview conducted last evening by VanRamblings with Illicit Artistic Director Kelty McKerracher, for full background on the development of the Illicit community-developed performance piece, what it’s all about, who developed and is involved in the project, the rationale behind Illicit, upcoming performances, and more.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

Created in response to the 2016 closing by Vancouver Coastal Health of the Downtown Eastside harm reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre), Illicit explores the lived realities of the opioid overdose crisis, the effects of Canada’s drug policy, the stigma faced by those who use illicit drugs, and the courage of community to act in the face of continuing loss.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

On July 3rd and 4th, the creators of Illicit invite you to witness the next step in the evolution of their work-in-progress — by entering an immersive world of shadow, music and story that celebrates the heart of a movement. The July 3rd and 4th performances of Illicit will take place at the Orpheum Annex, at 823 Seymour Street, in the artistic heart of Vancouver.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

At 1pm on July 3rd, there’ll be a ‘pay what you can’ matinée performance of Illicit, for community members and anyone who wishes to attend, with ticketed performances in the evening, at 7pm, on both July 3rd and 4th.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

Towards the end of the month, or very early in July, VanRamblings will re-publish today’s post. Tickets for the upcoming performances of Illicit will be available here, at some point in the next 24 hours, for the July 3rd and 4th performances of Illicit with information, as well, on how you might contribute to the Illicit project, as well as where and when performances of Illicit will take place in Victoria and Kamloops.

“In both places,” says Ms. McKerracher, “we’re working with wonderful teams of people, to set up not only a theatrical venue but an environment where we can have a productive dialogue. Illicit isn’t just about a performance, it’s about opening a space for a conversation that needs to be happening across the board in our society.

Harm reduction and the opioid crisis is not just a Downtown Eastside issue, this is affecting people across the province and across the country. We’re hoping that by taking it outside of Vancouver we’re going to reach audiences who don’t have access to this kind of conversation, and this kind of cultural shift.”

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)

Illicit, a site-specific installation and performance uses theatre, monologues, shadow puppetry and marionettes to tell personal stories that nurture dignity and hope. The artistic team behind the project: current Artistic Director and producer Kelty McKerracher, director Renae Morriseau, musical director and Juno award-winning artist, Devon Martin, and shadow marionette and puppeteer David Mendes, who collaborate with an active and intimately involved group of co-researcher performers — including Alanna Abrosimoff, Tyler Bigchild, Steve Cardinal, Nicolas Leech-Crier, Shawn Giroux, Jim McLeod, and Tina Shaw — to create Illicit.

Illicit: Stories from a harm reduction movement, a site-specific installation and performance created in response to the 2016 closing, by Vancouver Coastal Health, of the harm-reduction facility DURC (Drug Users Resource Centre)Tina Shaw, who works in overdose response in the Downtown Eastside, is involved in the upcoming production about Vancouver’s opioid crisis.

Presented in partnership with PHS Community Services Society, Hives for Humanity, and SFU ‘s Office of Community Engagement. And with support from Canada Council for the Arts, Community Action Initiative, and Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. As Ms. McKerracher related to VanRamblings last evening …

“The show will be educational and anecdotal, about what’s going on in our community and how people feel, the performance of Illicit hopefully ending with a discussion. It’s about truth and understanding and about acknowledging the uncertainty, the loss, and the tragic unfairness of the current opioid crisis.”

For more information on the Illicit project, please visit the Illicit blog.

Raymond Tomlin

Raymond Tomlin is a veteran journalist and educator who has written frequently on the political realm — municipal, provincial and federal — as well as on cinema, mainstream popular culture, the arts, and technology.

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