All You Need is LSD
Published on 3. October 2018
Book
Paperback/Softback
96 pages
978-1-350-10124-1 (ISBN)
Description
The drug laws in this country- the drug laws IN THE WORLD - all stem from this attitude that pleasure is a bad thing...
In 2015, acclaimed British playwright Leo Butler accepted an invitation from former Government drugs tsar, Professor David Nutt, to be a guinea pig in the world's first LSD medical trials since the 1960s. Monty Python, Being John Malkovich, and Alice in Wonderland all resonate in this exhilarating and original comedy as we watch Leo jump down the rabbit-hole of a medical trial in search of enlightenment - and a good story.
Along the way he meets an array of characters from Aldous Huxley and The Beatles, to Steve Jobs and Ronald Reagan, whose own stories in the history of LSD are hilariously and poignantly uncovered.
Does the world still need a psychedelic revolution? And will Leo make it back home in time for tea?
Part history, party wild fantasy, this darkly humorous new play illuminates the drugs debate that won't go away and examines the freedom we have to make our own choices in life, and death.
In 2015, acclaimed British playwright Leo Butler accepted an invitation from former Government drugs tsar, Professor David Nutt, to be a guinea pig in the world's first LSD medical trials since the 1960s. Monty Python, Being John Malkovich, and Alice in Wonderland all resonate in this exhilarating and original comedy as we watch Leo jump down the rabbit-hole of a medical trial in search of enlightenment - and a good story.
Along the way he meets an array of characters from Aldous Huxley and The Beatles, to Steve Jobs and Ronald Reagan, whose own stories in the history of LSD are hilariously and poignantly uncovered.
Does the world still need a psychedelic revolution? And will Leo make it back home in time for tea?
Part history, party wild fantasy, this darkly humorous new play illuminates the drugs debate that won't go away and examines the freedom we have to make our own choices in life, and death.
Reviews / Votes
Butler's dialogue combines naturalistic chat, a musical sense of phrase and pause, and surreal episodes * Independent (on Boy) * This lush, savage, nightmarish imagining of colonial Ireland circa 1762 suggests an imagination that has suddenly, gloriously and recklessly taken wing. * Time Out (on I'll Be the Devil) * Leo Butler's fine new play brings teeming London on to the stage * Observer (on Boy) * The influence of Beckett is clearly visible in Butler's new play, in which aimlessness is distilled with alchemical concentration into poetry. * Telegraph (on Boy) *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Dimensions
Height: 198 mm
Width: 129 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight
100 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-10124-1 (9781350101241)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Leo Butler was born in Sheffield in 1974. His first play, Made of Stone, was produced as part of the Royal Court Theatre Young Writers' Festival in 2000. His other plays include Redundant (Royal Court Downstairs, 2001), for which he was the winner of the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright; Lucky Dog(Royal Court Upstairs, 2004), and The Early Bird (Queens Theatre, Belfast, 2006), produced by Ransom Productions as part of the Belfast Festival. Other work includes two war plays for teenagers, Devotion (Theatre Centre, London, 2002) and Heroes (National Theatre, 2007), and I'll Be the Devil(Tricycle Theatre, London, 2008), produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Leo Butler lives in London with his wife and daughter.