Introduction - Sex Drugs Therapy and Mayhem

Sex, Drugs, Therapy and Mayhem

Set in a small London drug and rehabilitation centre, each scene of the play emulates the process of therapy by taking a step back in time towards the cause of the story's mayhem. This makes the beginning the finale.

The curtain rises on the rehab's "drop in" lounge, the senior counsellor Bernadette ("Bernie") rocks the rehab's sobbing manager Maggie in her arms. Distressed and very drunk, Maggie has fallen off the wagon after fourteen years of being an alcoholic in recovery. Coaxing Maggie to speak about her inexplicable and sudden return to drinking, Bernie asks Maggie to think of the last few days as a series of photographs laid out before them for Maggie to name in reverse order.

The first imaginary photo is that of Reverend Barley who brought five thousand pounds to fund training in America for Sean, a rehab client. The previous photo is of a leather jacket Sean stole from a pub. Then there's a photo of Ashley, Sean's wimp of a counsellor followed by one of Antara, an inept trainee counsellor. Antara has a crush on Ashley, a grudge against Bernie and a personal revelation in her shopping bag.

The last imaginary photograph, the one furtherest back in time, is of the dark forces bringing the rehab to its knees. The full details of the unpalatable mayhem driving the events forward are not for the faint hearted.

As Sean says, "A lot can happen in a few hours."