Drug Story Theater was created in 2014 as a pilot project by Dr. Joseph Shrand.
It first premiered as “The Price You Pay” at the Plymouth Community Intermediate School (PCIS) in June 2015. As a stake-holder in this program, District Attorney Tim Cruz was invited to attend.
District Attorney Cruz was so impressed with this project, he utilized funds from the MDAA Drug Diversion Fund, the Drug Free Communities Grant, and the Project Safe Neighborhood Grant, to fully fund or partially fund a production of Drug Story Theater in every school district within Plymouth County.
Many of the teens who take part in the production have been through a lot in a short amount of time. Their day-to-day struggles are real as the participants are not actors.
Dr. Joseph Shrand has grown this program and shared the Drug Story Theater message with students and parents throughout our county and around the state.
“Between June of 2015 – June 2016, The pilot Drug Story Theater troupe performed “The Price You Pay” over 20 times, reaching more than 10,000 students, parents, educators and townsfolk throughout the South Shore” – drugstorytheater.org opens in a new window
Performances in Plymouth County
Performances 2017-2019:
Plymouth South High
North Middle School-Brockton
East Middle School- Brockton
Plymouth County Drug Abuse Task Force Annual Conference- 2018
West Middle School-Brockton
PCIS
Abington Middle School
Plymouth South High
Performances 2015-2016:
PCIS
Marshfield High
Duxbury High
Whitman-Hanson Regional High
Wareham High
Brockton Ashfield Middle
Brockton High
Plymouth County Drug Abuse Task Force Annual Conference-2016
Hull High
Carver High
Hingham High
Plymouth South High
Plymouth North High
East Bridgewater High
Brockton Davis Middle
Abington High
Old Rochester Regional High
Pembroke High
Plymouth South High
Brockton Champion High
Plouffe Academy-Brockton
Brockton South Middle
Dr. Shrand, along with two medical students from Yale School of Medicine, and professors from Stanford School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine, worked together to formulate a study. They analyzed the anonymous surveys completed by students before and after attending a DST performance, and transcripts of focus group interviews conducted with program developers, stakeholders, performers and audience members. Their conclusion, “exposure to a DST performance improved knowledge and risk perceptions about addiction among middle and high school students.”
Included is the full study, objective, methods, and results.