2010 Robin I first heard about Improbable Players from someone in my voice-over class in Boston on the day I just happened to be exactly one year sober. The Players just happened to need someone in New York. I just happened to be going to move to New York to study social work.
The scene I read for the audition made me cry: I saw the truth in the story. It resonated with me. Since then I have played that role many times, first with the New York troupe, and now again since I have moved back to Boston. I play the daughter in “I’ll Never Do That!” She is the only character who gets to speak the truth about her mother’s alcoholism and set the wheels of family recovery in motion. But it isn’t easy for her – no one wants to listen to her.
The more I have the chance to perform this play, the more I feel connected with the other actors: we become a unit, and we support each other. And when that happens, I can really feel the reaction of the audience during the play and how they are with us and responding sympathetically.
Adam with Amie (in mask)
2009 Adamheard many stories about Improbable Players from a fellow graduate student and former actor/teacher with Players. As they worked together on theater education projects at Emerson College, she told him stories, and how much fun it was to be a part of a troupe that employed only clean and sober actors. So when Adam made a decision to stop drinking, she was the first person he called. They talked about what it was like to live life sober and what jobs they wanted after grad school.That’s what got Adam thinking about working with the Players. “Remember, you have to be clean and sober one year before auditioning,” she cautioned. And that’s when he started to look forward to making it one year without a drink or a drug. Right on schedule, his audition was spring of 2009 and he began to learn the plays in August.
“I like acting in the plays, but teaching is my favorite part--it’s more about giving.” Adam works with young people on their own recovery journey at Ostiguy Recovery High teaching them drama lessons – and passing along his own experience, strength and hope.
“I struggle with ... understanding the meaning of my life,“ Adam says. “The first time I said, ’Hi, I’m Adam and I’m an alcoholic.’ in front of an audience of 400 a high school kids, I was exhilarated. I got very emotional. I felt gratitude. I understood that I wasn’t doing this for me, but I was passing along an important message for them. I heard some murmurs from the crowd and one student said, ‘No way!’ and it made me laugh. As an improbable player I can be an alcoholic, an actor, a teacher, a role model, an employee – that’s really cool! All the pieces of my life fit together.”
Maiken
2008 Maiken did a double-take when she spotted an ad for "Sober Actors" on an on-line casting agency web site in New York. "I had never seen an ad looking for sober actors, and it really was intriguing." She immediately emailed and applied for the job. After auditioning with Director Lynn Bratley and being offered a position in the troupe, Maiken joined the New York troupe, impressed by the approach, outreach efforts, and successes of the Improbable Players.
Life as an Improbable Player is inspiring to Maiken. "It is amazing for me to go back into schools. When I was drinking, I didn’t realize where it would take me. During that time of my life I would have appreciated someone being up front with me about the consequences of the partying I was doing." She continues, "Going into schools makes me remember where I was back then, and it opens my eyes to issues bigger than myself. Recently a high school student came up to me after the show and related her story of recovery, and how the performance reinforced her choice to stay sober. It is clear to me that the shows are what the students need."
"The value of drama is actually seeing your problem illuminated on stage. The plays help people see that they may be involved in unhealthy relationships that come out of substance abuse, either in the family or peer groups. Realizing that is a first step to recovery or prevention. My story might be tame to some people, but that’s OK, because there are some people who will identify more with a story like that. The value of all our stories is that people can identify with them and maybe change their lives."
Matt
summer 2007 Matt A timely stroke of luck brought actor Matt F. to Improbable Players in 2004. While visiting his advisor’s office at UMass Boston he noticed a small Players’ audition notice and learned that the actors in the troupe were all clean and sober. Not long after, Matt was part of the troupe.
Simply attending college was a gift of Matt’s sobriety. He was a self-described "mess" after high school due to his heavy drinking and drug use, and had no plans and no direction. Two old friends changed all that in the summer of 2000. To show support for the friend who was trying not to drink, Matt bought a case of soda to share and didn’t drink any alcohol or smoke any pot that night. The next night the two of them went to a Red Sox game and once again being a supportive friend, Matt didn’t drink or smoke.
The following day another friend called who also coincidentally stopped drinking. He invited Matt to go to a 12-step meeting. At the meeting, Matt "heard his story" from one of the speakers and realized that he had just put three days of continuous sobriety together - and he felt better than he had in a long time.
Ever since that summer, Matt has treasured his new sober lifestyle, and is happy to report that a dozen more former high school drinking buddies are now clean and sober. He earned his BA in Theater Arts from UMass and loves performing with the Players because he gets to act and help kids. "I used when I was their age, and I can relate to what some of them are going through. I see my old self in the characters I play. It helps me remember where I came from, and how different life is now. I stay sober one day at a time, and don’t take anything for granted." Matt moved to New York in October 2007 to perform with the New York.troupe.
Chris, Natali and Owen
summer 2006 Natali I think if I had seen a performance such as 'Running On E' or some of the other Improbable Players' shows while i was in high school, i would have been filled with hope and not felt so alone. Maybe I would have reached out for help with my issues around self-esteem, addiction and substance abuse. I didn't know that people who'd been through using and abusing could come out successful and happy--or even alive.
Being a Player reinforces my hope in a sober life and helps me to share this hope with others -- especially kids. the educational and autobiographical aspect of the shows makes me feel that nothing I went through was in vain. It gives me a feeling that even if we can't stop anyone from using, they can begin to get help or to get clarity and education about the disease of addiction. And if they have anyone in their lives who is using or in danger because of substance abuse, they could learn some tools from us and maybe change their lives for the better.
summer 2005 Brian
Nine months sober, Brian came home from a meeting and had a hunch that he was going to have some luck finding a part time job on the Internet. When he spotted the Players’ ad looking for a sober actor, his first thought was, "I want this job, but they’ll never hire me!" Two years later Brian acts in all five of the Players’ productions and teaches drama workshops. "Brian is one of those "heart" performers whose humanity shines over the footlights", says Director Lynn Bratley.
The best part of this job for Brian? — connecting with young people and sharing his experience, strength and hope during the Q&A, as well as one-on-one. "When kids come up on stage after the show to talk with me, I know that they won’t feel as alone with their problems as I did." In addition to acting and teaching with the Players, Brian is a Polarity therapist, a columnist, and a singer/songwriter.
Arielle and Brian
summer 2004 Kari found the players through an ad in the paper
Kari biked to the Players’ office in a snowstorm for her audition February 2001. "I saw an ad in the Phoenix for "sober actors", and I thought, "Hey! That’s me!" Kari became part of a team of six other young clean and sober actors who worked together to develop "Running On E". Director Lynn Bratley led the actors in improvisations about their own lives to build a play about kids in trouble with drugs, and how one of them hits bottom and has to learn how to get clean—or die. The play follows Kari’s real-life story of addiction and recovery.
"It was intense to re-live part of my life. And it was healing. When I look at the play now, I can say to myself, ‘This is how I used to live. But I don’t live that way anymore.’ I’ve been clean for four years now. My life today—my recovery— is a continuation of my character’s story in the play that the audience doesn’t see. Being in the play really helps me see how far I’ve come since then."
Kari, who earned her BA in Film from Emerson College in 2000, finds great satisfaction combining her training in theater arts with her recovery. "Running On E" has become a popular program in the schools, and, most importantly for Kari, an eye-opener for young people. Students thank her for her bravery in telling her story to them. They ask for her advice in stopping their own or their friends’ drug use. "I love working with Improbable Players. Performing in the plays enriches my recovery. It always reminds me that in order to keep it, I have to give it away by helping other people."
