Intoxication

Following a critically acclaimed tour across Australia, Intoxication comes home for its final season at Melbourne Fringe 2018.

Showing 25th September - 29th September

After being hit by a car in August 2014, playwright Christopher Bryant was told by his neurologist that he’d never write again.

Intoxication was his first play following the near-death experience, weaving a post-dramatic patchwork from scenes written in hospital beds and throughout extensive rehabilitation.

After two years of sharing anxiety, trauma and recovery with audiences across Australia, it’s time for Bryant to put Intoxication to rest. The decision was in no small part inspired by Hannah Gadsby’s heartfelt success Nanette, and her subsequent decision to quit comedy.

“I recently read a piece where Hannah talked about reliving trauma during each performance. And I found myself in a similar position - returning to this traumatic moment in my life which, despite my best efforts, has definitely come to define me,” says Bryant. “Being able to share the story, to give it to an audience, helps to rob it of its power over me. But there is a point where it’s important to set it down, and walk away.”

Weaving together Christopher’s real-life near-death experience, with theory from Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly, Judith Herman’s Trauma and Recovery, and Matthew Todd’s How to Be Gay and Happy, Intoxication is an intimate piece of queer storytelling and audience connection.

Presented as part of Critical Mass. A crowding of crucial ideas at Brunswick Mechanics Institute, Siteworks and Testing Grounds as part of Melbourne Fringe 2018.


“Make eye contact and prepare for a genuine, moving performance.” ★★★★ - The Advertiser 
“If we'd been in the dark, we could have hidden and Bryant doesn't want that. He wants openness and honesty. And in that small room, under bright lights, that's what we got.” - Keith Gow

INTOXICATION

Times: 9PM (45 mins)
Venue: Brunswick Mechanics Institute, Studio 1 - 270 Sydney Road, Brunswick VIC 3056
Tickets: Full $20, Concession $14.50, Group (6+) $15
Bookings: click BOOK NOW