Photo Flash: Drug Story Theater Improv Performance Comes to HUBweek

Drug Story Theater performed to a full house Sunday afternoon in Boston's City Hall Plaza at HUBweek in the Ideas Dome, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Drug Story Theater is an innovative, evidence-based, peer-to-peer treatment and prevention program. DST takes teens in the early stages of recovery from drugs and alcohol, teaches them improvisational theater, and helps them craft theatrical pieces about their journeys through addiction and recovery. They then perform the shows live for middle and high school audiences so that "the treatment of one becomes the prevention of many." Incorporating brain science with slides in between scenes, DST educates students on how addiction starts and why adolescents are particularly vulnerable. Dr. Joseph Shrand, Instructor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Assistant Child Psychiatrist on the medical staff of Massachusetts General Hospital and the Medical Director of CASTLE (Clean and Sober Teens Living Empowered), who has been dedicated to communication with teens and youth for 45 years, provides vision and guidance for the group.

On Sunday, the group's performance at the Blue Cross Ideas Dome, which incorporated heavy improvisation, drew on the actors' personal stories and experiences with drugs and addiction. Through its presenting partnership of HUBweek's Ideas Dome, Blue Cross' speakers and presence throughout the week explored innovative approaches to shape the future of health, work, mobility and environmental sustainability as part of a series exploring how to build a more inclusive and equitable future. In 2018, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts made a quarter-million-dollar investment in Drug Story Theater, becoming DST's largest investor to date, in order to promote the expansion of the program and allow it to increase the number of school district partners each year from 17 to 60, with the potential to reach 16,000 students around the state annually.

Dr. Joseph Shrand, Founder of Drug Story Theater, addressing the audience with Drug Story Theater performers Sunday, October 14, in Boston's City Hall Plaza at HUBweek in the Ideas Dome, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Drug Story Theater performers improvising to convey stories based on their own experiences with addiction Sunday, October 14, in Boston's City Hall Plaza at HUBweek in the Ideas Dome, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Drug Story Theater performers Sunday, October 14, in Boston's City Hall Plaza at HUBweek in the Ideas Dome, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Dr. Joseph Shrand, Founder of Drug Story Theater, with Kathleen Wright, Chief Operating Office of Drug Story Theater, and performers Sunday, October 14, in Boston's City Hall Plaza at HUBweek in the Ideas Dome, presented by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.