Overview

Performing Recovery explores how theater and performance can reimagine addiction recovery as a creative and collaborative cultural practice. The book draws on 20 years of research and collaboration to investigate how people in recovery use artistic expression to challenge stigma and build new forms of belonging. Through case studies such as the Addiction Recovery Arts Network, Fallen Angels Dance Theatre, Portraits of Recovery, small performance adventures, the Pink Flamingos Project, and WilL Dickie’s White Sun, it reframes vulnerability as a source of creativity and connection. Combining theoretical frameworks with practical insights, the book demonstrates how socially engaged performance makes recovery visible, valued, and understood in new ways. This book is ideal for artists, researchers, healthcare professionals, and students in performance studies, applied arts, social work, and addiction recovery programs, it will also appeal to anyone interested in creative expression, community arts, and social justice.

Full Product Details

9780367696863

Table of Contents

Reviews

‘’Zoe Zontou’s new work is an important contribution to socially engaged arts to deal with addiction and recovery cultures. It’s an excellent and timely account that brings the dynamics of the practices to life – with different projects expertly documented and analysed. The book is simultaneously both thought provoking and moving, demonstrating the importance of performance work for people in different stages of recovery. This is a vital read for all those involved in the applied theatre, performance and community arts fields.’’ James Thompson, Professor of Applied Theatre, University of Manchester ‘’This is a vital and timely work that reframes vulnerability as a source of creative power and cultural resistance. Zontou’s deep engagement with recovery communities and socially engaged performance offers a compelling challenge to stigma and reductive narratives. A must-read for anyone invested in recovery, justice, and the transformative potential of the arts.’' Dr David Patton, Associate Professor in Criminology, University of Derby ‘’Zontou’s new book is an urgent reminder to treat people in addiction recovery with compassion and care, and how the arts might provide a balm by which to do this. Her fascinating case studies illuminate the best in both grassroots and large organisational approaches, whilst continuously foregrounding the real people involved in the work. In the chapter exploring the Pink Flamingo’s group, their voices are as prevalent as her own: exploring the complexity that addiction and caring might encounter. We live in times where society has never felt more divided, and Zontou’s book reminds us of all that humanity, and the arts can always be the answer.’’ Anna Woolf, CEO London Arts and Health

Author Information

Zoe Zontou is Associate Professor of Drama at Liverpool Hope University, where she specializes in socially engaged performance and the role of the arts in addiction recovery.

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