Smokescreen
Tuesday, April 3, 10 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.
Grades: 9 - 12
Roseneath Theatre
Curriculum Connections: drama/theatre
Character Counts: responsibility, trustworthiness
Study Guide
Young people who see Smokescreen laugh, listen and think, but above all they are amazed at how real it is. Smokescreen is an exploration of values and of truth and denial between a father and son, with the adolescent drug culture as a backdrop. The story centers on a savvy, charismatic but troubled young man named Trent Dolin. Trent has been convicted of trafficking marijuana and as the play begins, he arrives for a court-ordered drug rehab assessment with Rayzee deGruiter, a newly minted youth care worker assigned to "easy cases." Trent is anything but. He views marijuana use as an innocuous, innocent, peace-promoting pastime demonized by a corrupt and hypocritical world. Known as the "herb man" among his peers, he views his trafficking as more of a public service than a crime and a means of keeping himself supplied. Rayzee slowly strips away the layers of justification that support and mythologize adolescent marijuana use. At the moment of breakthrough, their conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Trent’s father who ratchets the conflict up to a new level. Rayzee must broker a deal between these two warring factions that tests all her skills as a counselor and helps Trent envision a new paradigm for his drug behavior.
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