Seven ways to fate and all

Abstract

This script is the outcome of a practice-led research project exploring the exponential growth in British Columbia of fentanyl-detected illicit drug overdose deaths. A September 2017 summary from The BC Coroners Service’s confirms a 143% increase in the number of deaths. In the canon of dramatic screenplays, few scripts explore the domain of drug addiction exclusively as a subject. In The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Frank Sinatra plays Frankie Machine, a drug addict who becomes clean in prison and yearns to be a drummer. Yet, his heroin addiction is never specified. In Clean and Sober (1988) Michael Keaton is an alcoholic and cocaine addicted realtor who hides in a treatment center. However, in the recent, Emmy Award winning television series, Breaking Bad, Walter White’s sidekick, Jesse Pinkham, is clearly a heroin addict. My screenplay differs from the above dramas in that most characters are not confirmed addicts. In my dramatized script I portray characters from many walks of life: teenagers, parents, actors, politicians, and the homeless, and show how they struggle with the impact of illicit drug usage. It can happen to anyone. As a character states in Way Five, “It (meaning addiction) is a health issue.” Rather than a screed about illicit opioid use, my screenplay attempts to inform, open conversations and transform attitudes.