Performing Recovery : Addiction, Vulnerability and the Ethics of Representation

Performing Recovery shows how theatre and performance can transform addiction recovery into a creative, community-driven cultural practice.

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.