THE FIFTH VITAL SIGN Tackles The Opioid Crisis At The Tank Theatre

Pain doesn't discriminate, it affects every living thing, regardless of race, age or social class. No one is immune from it, yet for decades we have sought to escape from it, triumph over it. But this seemingly noble aspiration, combined with corporate greed and blissful ignorance created a widespread health crisis that continues to run rampant.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse: "Everyday, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids."

"In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died as a result of an opioid overdose, including prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly manufactured fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid...That same year, an estimated 1.7 million people in the United States suffered from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers"

"Opioid addiction is something that could happen to anyone," Artistic Director Lauren M. Krebs explained, "(Anyone) with a different age, different religion, gender, race, ethnicity. It doesn't play any kind of favorites."

Elephant Room Productions presents The Fifth Vital Sign, a collection of plays that confronts the devastating effects of the opioid epidemic in an effort to personalize the impersonal and raise awareness for all individuals suffering from addiction by encouraging our audience to learn the stories behind the statistics. These stories range from children coping with their recovering mother, parents dealing with writing the obituary for their late daughter, a married couple arguing over medical methods and solutions to chronic pain, a mother who gave all she had to help her sontry to recover and a rhythmic piece that exposes the ultimate causes and effects of the medical/Pharma side of this epidemic.

In late 2018, Elephant Room Productions announced that they were seeking short (10-20 minute) play submissions about the opioid crisis for their upcoming show. In the end they received 85 plays from which they picked 5 pieces that they would take with them to New York City. After selecting them, 4 out of the 5 plays were produced as audio dramas on the company podcast The Trumpet. These audio dramas were released throughout the Summer of 2019

"We wanted to raise awareness but also accessibility to these works" said Julianne Schaub, Marketing Director of Elephant Room Productions, "The audio drama series was designed to advertise the production as a whole but to also make these plays and their messages available to as many people as we could manage."

For this production, the company is also partnering with the national nonprofit,Shatterproof. In addition to raising awareness, a generous percentage of profits from the show will be donated to this organization. Several members of ERP also participated in Shatterproof's Virtual 5K fundraiser campaign, collecting donations before opening day.

The Fifth Vital Sign will run from November 2nd to the 3rd at The Tank Theaterwhich is located between 8th and 9th Avenue at 312 West 36th Street, New York, NY. There are two performances, both of which are at 3:00 pm. Tickets are $15.

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