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Set during the World Cup "Tonic" tells the story of four women trying, unsuccessfully, to get away from the football! Zoe heads off to a caravan estate for a break with her friend Lorraine and colleagues Suzy and Nina. But her little sister, Josie, turns up, having left her violent partner, and bringing a suitcase full of money and chaos in her wake. Like all Open Clasp productions Tonic is a comedy vehicle for serious issues. Zoe and Josie are survivors of childhood domestic and sexual abuse, Suzy suffers from OCD, Nina is lurching unprepared through the menopause, and Lorraine is banned from her own home whenever her girlfriend’s children have their friends around. This is the backdrop to the whole story, and we see how the characters deal with these issues as well as everything else life throws at them. Read The Journal's Tonic Review here. Open Clasp are delighted that Tonic was a finalist for the Journal Culture Awards 2007 in the category of Performance of the Year. For a small scale company touring mainly to community venues to make the final three was a massive achievement, especially with the level of competition from other theatres in the region. As Catrina McHugh said when we heard we’d made the shortlist: “The success of Tonic is a testament to the strength, courage and humour of women from the North East. It’s about their lived experiences, with all the laughter and tears that go with it. It’s brilliant to have the work of the company recognised like this.”
Tonic and Mind the Gap Report. Open Clasp's final evaluation report on our Mind the Gap Project and Tonic Tour is now available. The report gives a glimpse into the lives of the women we worked with during the project, the methodologies we used, the information we gathered and feedback we received about women's attitudes to Mental Health in North East England. It was updated in November 2007 to include additional feedback on the long term benefits of the project. Click to download the updated Report, and the Cover Sheet. "I loved it. I've laughed so much, but looked at some things very close to my heart" Mind the Gap workshop participant "If it wasn't for these workshops I probably wouldn't have got out of bed - they've kept me going." Mind the Gap workshop Participant "A real Tonic that beats the World Cup any day" The Journal - 29/03/07 "Bringing out sensitive issues, my emotions did a rollercoaster - keep up the good work" Audience member "Excellent performance - hard hitting way to raise awareness - no jargon approach, very sensitively done - Thank you!" Audience memberThe following groups directly
informed the creation of ‘Tonic’
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