Written and directed by Nasser Memarzia

Those who witness, at first hand, what addiction can do to others, are least likely to fall victim to drugs. Powerful and believable drama can be as effective as real life experience in forming attitudes.

Storyline:   On the morning of her 11th birthday, CHARLOTTE sees the news of her own death, on the local TV from a heroin overdose at the age of 22. As she listens to her father's emotional appeal to other parents to educate themselves about drugs, Charlotte's Mum enters the room, turns off the TV and tells Charlotte to get on with her homework. A childish fantasy, or a chilling premonition of a fait accompli? Like Alice, Charlotte sets out on a strange and puzzling journey. This turns out to be the world of her own future where she meets her older self, at the ages of thirteen; eighteen; and twenty-two on a one way street to addiction. To young Charlotte, her older selves seem more like strangers. To them, Charlotte is nothing, but a distant memory. They invite her to experience the 'ultimate buzz' - heroin. She meets her future boy-friend with whom she is to leave her parental home. She comes face to face with herself as a single mother who is caught in a perpetual and lonely battle with addiction whilst struggling to raise her two year old daughter, Lucy. At the end of her journey, on her 11th birthday, Charlotte becomes determined that she will never lose control of her own destiny.

More about the play:   The play was originally commissioned in 1999 through collaboration between Thames Valley Police and Cherwell District Council. It was produced for seven consecutive years by Oxford and Cherwell Valley performing arts students, and toured Oxfordshire schools extensively. In the spring of 2000, sponsored by The Prince's Trust, the production travelled to the Russian city of Perm, the twin city of Oxford, where it was greeted as a pioneering project in peer led education in the field of drugs awareness and prevention of drugs dependency. In 2002, The BUZZED was adopted as the centrepiece of Northamptonshire County Council's Drugs Education Programme. Since then, an annual production of the play has been made available to all secondary schools across the county. Tens of thousands of young teenagers have seen The BUZZED in production across Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire. Cherwell Theatre Company's production is the only professional rendition of the play. It is now available to schools and other educational organisations on demand! Please contact the company for booking details. Also, if you are interested in organising your own production of the play, please contact us for terms and conditions.