Fringe Festival favourite and master monologuist TJ Dawe takes audiences on a deeply honest and ultimately uplifting shamanic quest in his solo show, Medicine, at the Firehall Arts Centre. This hit show is back by popular demand after receiving rave reviews and selling out its entire run at the Firehall last January, including a two-week holdover.
In Medicine, Dawe shares his experience of joining a retreat led by famed addictions physician Dr. Gabor Maté. At the retreat, participants ingest the Amazonian psychotropic plant medicine ayahuasca to confront their demons and heal stress and addiction. Dawe’s monologue takes audiences on a funny, and at times dark, introspective journey into the playwright’s search for what lies behind his impulses and motivations.
Dawe is also due to perform the show at Victoria’s William Head Prison as well as the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse (February 27 to March 1), returning to the toboggan accident that plays such a central role in his story.
Dawe participated in a second psychedelic retreat last October, ingesting the African plant medicine iboga, derived from the bark of the roots of a bush that grows in Gabon. The ceremony is particularly grueling, lasting up to thirty-six hours. The experience was so powerful that he plans to write about and use it in a future monologue.
Medicine
Dates: January 14 to 25, 2014
Venue: Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova Street, Vancouver
Tickets: Available online or via phoning 604.689.0926
Dr. Gabor Maté will attend a special series of audience talkbacks on January 14 to 17 and 21 to 24, 8 pm; January 18 and 25, 5 pm; January 15 and 22, 1 pm; January 18, 2 pm
About TJ Dawe
TJ is a Vancouver-based writer/performer/director/dramaturg who’s performed at over 100 theatre and comedy festivals across Canada, the US, and abroad. His play Toothpaste & Cigars (co-written with Mike Rinaldi) was recently adapted as a feature film titled The F Word, starring Daniel Radcliffe. TJ directed and co-created both The One Man Star Wars Trilogy and One Man Lord of the Rings with Charlie Ross. TJ blogs, podcasts and tweets at Beams and Struts.
About Dr. Gabor Maté
Dr. Gabor Maté is a Canadian physician, public speaker, and bestselling author whose works have been published internationally in 20 languages. His most recent book is the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. For 12 years, Dr. Maté worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard-core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV.
