I hope the play raises awareness about how dangerous and destructive this drug is. – Greg Vovos
A potentially life-saving message driven by the power of theater is hitting the road to continue shedding light on a deadly problem in Geauga County and well beyond its borders — heroin.
“I hope the play raises awareness about how dangerous and destructive this drug is,” playwright Greg Vovos said in a recent interview about his original play, “Complete and Total,” which was performed at Geauga Theater in November and will be touring all over Northeast Ohio in the coming months.
“I hope it creates empathy for those caught in its grip and takes away the stigma to users and family alike, and I hope it encourages community conversation,” Vovos said. “But more than anything, I hope it illustrates how destructive and addictive these drugs are, so when a young person is offered the drugs or comes across them, they choose never to take them.”
“Complete and Total” is about a young man, who jeopardizes his future and relationship with his family because of his escalating drug addiction.
Geauga Lyric Theater Guild Executive Director Erika Hansen said the plan is to take the close to one-hour show “on the road” to schools, places of worship, community centers and more, spreading a consistent, impactful message.
“It follows the story of a high school student with a bright future ahead of him, but heroin and addiction quickly become his top priority,” Hansen said. “The Mind, the only sober part left of his brain, believes in his ability to become clean, but it’s not that simple.”
With a chance to attend Harvard, the main character Eric’s drug addiction escalates and heroin becomes the number one priority in his life.
Eric’s younger sister, Madison, and the Mind seek out to help him, but it remains to be seen if Madison and the Mind are up to the task of helping defeat the powerful narcotic.
“The most important reason this is such a powerful show and should be seen by all people is because it’s true,” said Sue Tackett, a Lake County public defender who participated in a panel that presented a post-show discussion of the causes and effects of heroin use in community. “It is the product of a great deal of research, time and dedication to an authentic account of heroin addiction and its effects.”
Tackett said Vovos used real stories of real people, including stories of people she knows personally, to create the play.
Vovos, of Rocky River, was resident playwright for the Willoughby Fine Arts’ “Theater for Healthy Living” program, where he wrote plays focused on issues affecting young community members.
Through that program, he interviewed some young men from Geauga County to help with his research for “Complete and Total.”
Vovos said it was immensely important to him the play felt real, which is why he did so much research on the subject, interviewing recovering addicts, men and women ranging from ages 16 to 40, attending opiate town hall meetings and speaking with judges and law enforcement.
“Lots of research,” Vovos said. “In fact, the most research I’ve ever done for one play.”
The playwright also met the standards of school administrators and parents.
“It accurately and compassionately demonstrates the impact heroin has not only on those who use the drug, but on those who love people affected by addiction,” Tackett said. “Ultimately, Greg’s work begins a conversation we need to be having across the country, in our communities and in our homes — a discussion about addiction, its true causes, the treatment of addiction, and the need for more research and resources to confront this epidemic.”
Gov. John Kasich, on Jan. 5, signed a bill tightening restrictions on prescription opioids and making addiction treatment easier to obtain.
According to the website Greater Than Heroin, Ohio leads the nation in overdose deaths.
“We need to fix it right where we live, all of us, if we love our children, if we love the people we live next to,” Kasich said in his statement about the bill. “We have to deliver this message to them — don’t do these drugs, you will destroy your life and you will destroy the purpose for which the good Lord created you.”
Tackett said the best cure for addiction is prevention.
“We have to reach kids if we want to stem the tide of this epidemic,” Tackett added. “Perhaps the most shocking thing about the heroin epidemic is that you can walk into any high school in Ohio and find a teenager with knowledge about the drug or who knows someone who uses heroin.”
She added, “It’s a scary and sad reality, but it’s one we must face together if we want to stop heroin from further damaging our communities. Greg’s play speaks directly to young audiences in language they understand, but with a frankness and candor necessary to educate them about the dangers of addiction to heroin. If we cannot talk to the children in our lives about this issue, we cannot protect them.”
To book “Complete and Total” for your school or youth organization, contact educationoutreach@geaugatheater.org.
