Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 18:16:47 +1100 From: PRIDE Subject: Performance Positive does drugs MEDIA RELEASE For immediate use 07/23/97 Performance Positive Does Drugs After `Fear' what comes next for the Sydney event described as "definitely unmissable theatre" (Sydney Star Observer, June 5)? It is `Drugs', those things which almost one third of gay men in a recent Sydney survey blamed for their seroconversion*. PRIDE EO Bronte Morris said, "although the wider community is having a great debate about drugs our community really hasn't been confronting this as an issue. The recent survey confirms what we already know, personally and anecdotally: drugs and HIV are connected., so for Performance Positive to address this is both brave and timely." `Drugs' can also be the `good guys'., the anti-virals and the protease inhibitors many see as hailing the be-ginning of the end for HIV. The framework of `Drugs' for this Performance Positive asks how `pill-popping' in the sense of so-called `recreational drugs' within our community, fits with the rest of the drug use that we, as a society, have become used to. "As a community we pose a lot of questions because we want to get some answers to what are quite complicated issues, not simply hand people the answers. `Are we looking for `magic bullet' solutions? How do our attitudes to one sort of drug use impact on another - `life-saving' versus `life-destroying'? What do we feel about drugs as treatments? If you thought drugs could prolong your life why wouldn't you take them `compliantly?'" Said Morris. The Performance Positive series recently received high praise from the President of the National Associa-tion of People Living With HIV/AIDS, Alan Brotherton, who said "Story telling is a powerful form of communication and a primary tool of education in many cultures the remarkable success of PRIDE's `Performance Positive' series., suggests that this is an effective strategy for gay men too".** Performers for Performance Positive VI: Drugs are: Derek Porter + Tristan Anderson, Catherine Far-ghar, Stephen Dunne, Benedick Leslie, The Soul Bitches (Matthew Bergan and Deobia Oparei), Fiona McGregor, Vinn , The Viral Loadz and more. Tickets for Performance Positive VI: Drugs are $5 and available from PRIDE, 26 Hutchinson St, Surry Hills between 10am and 6pm weekdays. Book early as previous performances have sold out. PPVI will be videod for archival purposes. For further information please contact either Paul Canning or Bronte Morris on 9331 1333 or 0412 112 553. More on Performance Positive can be found at this web address http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/5244/PPhomepage.htm *Sydney Star Observer, June 26, 1997 **Sex, Drugs & Community: Implications of New Treatments for Gay Educators, 1997 -- PRIDE Sydney Gay & Lesbian Community Centre Limited ------- e-mail: pride@rainbow.net.au - - fax: (+61 2) 9331 1199 - - ph: (+61 2) 9331 1333 - post: PO Box 7, Darlinghurst NSW 2010 Date: Wed, 23 Jul 1997 18:40:34 +1100 From: PRIDE btait@riap.usyd.edu.au Subject: Re: Performance Positive does drugs And the dates for Performance Positive VI:Drugs? It's on Friday and Saturday, August 1+2 -- PRIDE Sydney Gay & Lesbian Community Centre Limited ------- e-mail: pride@rainbow.net.au - - fax: (+61 2) 9331 1199 - - ph: (+61 2) 9331 1333 - post: PO Box 7, Darlinghurst NSW 2010