Andy Short is an Executive Director and actor with the Improbable Players. Andy is in long term recovery from Substance Use Disorder. He shares his story the goal of helping people develop an understanding of the nature of addiction as well as identifying resources in the community that can assist with prevention.

About Improbable Players

Improbable Players uses theater performances & workshops to address addiction, alcoholism, and the opioid epidemic. Our performances are 25-45 minutes long followed by a talkback/Q&A. Our workshops give students the space and tools to combat social pressures and find coping strategies that work for them.Our plays are based on true stories and performed by people in recovery.

Our work is appropriate for 6th grade and up. In addition to schools, we’ve performed at conferences, treatment centers, and community events across the country.

Improbable Players have been performing the mission of substance use disorder prevention since 1984. With each performance we collect feedback. The sentiments are clear: our work is uniquely impactful because our actors have lived the stories they perform. These are universally relatable stories.

This feedback is bolstered by research by John F. Kelly, PhD, ABPP with Recovery Research Institute at MGH. His pre and post show surveys show significant changes in attitudes and knowledge of school age audiences. This is evidence based prevention education

Paul is an actor living/working in the Boston area. He is also a free lance writer, an amateur hockey goalie, a proud Dad and grandfather.

Paul lives life with passion; his motto is “what’s around the next corner”… he is quick witted, funny, compassionate and excited about life.

Paul’s life has reflected his values. He started as a salesman at Sears, took a job as a flight attendant and finally took the leap to his real passion, acting.

Paul is a cast member with COAAST www.coaast.org , has appeared in dozens of films, including the leading role in the critically acclaimed movie Sundown which can be seen on Amazon starting April 3rd. He has played everything from serial killers to grandfathers to millionaires and enjoys every single opportunity looking forward to the next adventure “around the corner”.

Reverend Ron Tibbetts is a Deacon in the Episcopal Church. He served as the Executive Director of Neighborhood Action Inc in Boston where he ministered to the homeless for over 17 years.

Following is an excerpt from a 2002 article on his ministry with Neighborhood Action;

“If you happen to be standing on the Boston Common just before 7 A.M. on any given day, you might see Ron Tibbets walking to church. Plant yourself anywhere between the Park Street ‘T’ stop and the State House and you might hear him call out the name of somebody lying on a bench before stopping to talk for a few moments. Then he continues on, making his way up to Beacon Street, then around the corner and down the hill onto Bowdoin Street.

The Rev. Ronald Tibbets, a vocational deacon in the diocese, is the executive director of Neighborhood Action Inc., which operates as the social ministry arm of St. John’s.

Mopping floors of the parish hall at St. John’s, helping in the kitchen and then putting on the clerical collar to say the blessing at the Thursday evening meal, Deacon Tibbets is, in the words of the prayer book, interpreting “to the church the needs, concerns and hopes of the world.” And he is joined by a dedicated cadre of staff members and volunteers who find that they are humbled, challenged and fed by their involvement with Neighborhood Action.

Leaving theological or liturgical differences at the door, volunteers get to work in creating “a place of trust and certainty,” as Deacon Tibbets put it. Sometimes, when he offers a mealtime prayer of thanksgiving for the presence of all gathered, he gets a round of applause in return.

Deacon Tibbets and others are fed because they are honored to have been trusted by their guests, even if they are sometimes startled by what they hear. And everyone has been transformed.”

Most recently Rev Tibbetts has been an integral part of the #2069 project. This campaign, originated at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wrentham Massachusetts, seeks to reduce stigma and promote understanding of substance use disorder.

Elizabeth Addison is a composer, lyricist, playwright, actor, producer, activist and woman in recovery, and after nearly a decade of active addiction, found her way to recovery through the Arts. She strongly believes in the Arts and their ability to change the world, and hopes that This is Treatment will help de-stigmatize an issue affecting millions of people and empower women to speak their truths and find their power.

I began writing “This Is Treatment” after my year long stay at a women’s residential treatment facility for substance abuse. While I was in treatment, this thought kept popping in my head, ‘something needs to written about treatment.’As a kid, I always loved musicals, and I always wanted to write one, but just never believed that I could. Not having written a song before, I began writing this story about women helping women recover, after a young producer told me ‘”all you need to do to write a song is find a melody”. After hearing that, I immediately go to work. Three weeks later, I had composed my first song and This Is Treatment was born. My musical is about the resilience of the human spirit. We see women struggling to put the broken pieces of their lives back together. The show will have you experiencing a whirl wind of emotions from sadness, pain, love and joy. It is my hope that with This Is Treatment, people will be able to see past the addiction, past the dereliction, past the monster and into the heart and soul of a human being.

Jack Fultz is an  elite American long-distance runner, who came to prominence in the 1970s after winning the 1976 Boston Marathon, the world’s oldest and most established marathon race. In addition to his win in 1976 Jack recorded two top 10 finishes in Boston and  qualified for three consecutive United States Olympic Trials marathons in 1972, 1976, and 1980. Because President Jimmy Carter called for a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, Fultz did not run in the 1980 Olympic Trials. In 1996, Fultz was inducted into the Georgetown University Hall of Fame and on that occasion was invited to the White House to run with then-President Bill Clinton. Also in 1996, Fultz was inducted into the DC Road Runners Hall of Fame

Jack has been an instructor of sport psychology at Tufts University, is currently a fitness consultant and personal coach and a motivational speaker.

Jack serves as the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge team’s Training  Advisor, a team that has raised over $85 million for cancer research.

Raye Lynn Mercer, Director 

Franklin School for Performing Arts, Franklin Perfomring Arts Company

Founder of the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, Raye Lynn Mercer received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Music from Middlebury College and attended the Vienna International Music Center in Vienna, Austria, where she studied with Maria-Regina Seidlhofer of the Academy of Music. Her teachers included Guiseppe deLellis, Diana Fanning, Gabriel Chodos and Yoriko Takahashi. Pianist, director and choreographer, Raye Lynn has presented 31 seasons of musicals, plays, concerts and dance productions with FSPA and the community-based Franklin Performing Arts Company, established in 1991. Raye Lynn serves as Administrator of the school, oversees the FSPA musical theater program and directs the international touring ensemble Electric Youth. Her FSPA student’s résumés include Broadway, national tours, off-Broadway, regional and touring companies, European concert tours, Fox-TV’s American Idol finals and performances at Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris, as well as placement in top college and conservatory arts programs. Combining profession and hobby, Raye Lynn has directed Symphony of Horses productions across the country. Internationally, she has developed Electric Youth’s professional concert tours in Europe and taught musical theater workshops in Austria and Hong Kong. President and Executive Director of the Franklin Performing Arts Company, Raye Lynn is the visionary of THE BLACK BOX, a new performance and event venue located behind FSPA in the heart of downtown Franklin.

Join Angela Cote, owner of Sacred Tree Yoga Studio and author Stu Klane for a wide ranging as we discuss some of the  principals of  yoga, meditation and spiritual awakening and their impact on emotional well being.

Angela Cote – 
Angela is the creator of Sacred Tree Yoga Studio and Wellness Center. She was yoga certified in 2010 thru Finding Inner Peace Yoga 200 hour program and is a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance. She is Yin certified through Open Doors Yoga with a second certification of Yin and Meditation with Sagel Urlacher. She is currently pursuing an additional 300 hour yoga certification with Jacqui Bonwell of Sacred Seeds Yoga School. Angela is a certified Usui Reiki Ryoho Master Teacher and has been practicing since 2002. She certifies students for all levels of Reiki. She is grateful and feels privileged to have a space available to the community

Stu Klane
Stu is the creator and owner of The Harley Healer. When he is not wrenching motorcycles, he shares his verbal tools of experience and knowledge. Stu feels that one of the greatest tools you can have is living in the present moment. Stu offers workshops for learning these tools. He incorporates his book “Wisdom, Magic, and Miracles – Tools for today; Wisdom for life” as a reminder for mindful living.

Barbara Gillmiester shares the incredible story of how she and her husband David turned the grief of losing their son (Steven “Gilly” Gillmeister) into a living legacy honoring his life. Gilly’s House will open this spring bringing  much needed sober living space to our area.

Gilly’s House is a residential program for young men who have struggled with addiction and want to continue their recovery. It offers a stable, structured, supportive and safe environment to achieve personal goals while attaining the transitional life skills necessary to reintegrate into community life. Caring for the needs of each individual, Gilly’s House collaboratively works with each young man to develop personal goals and a plan to reach them.

The program offers the opportunity for social, educational and vocational growth. The daily structured schedule reinforces a lifestyle free of alcohol and drug use. Transitional life skills including healthy living, social services, career exploration, personal finance and self-help groups, along with a program of counseling and 12 Step group meetings is integral to the success of this program. Gilly’s House prepares young men to reenter life with a positive step forward; with the personal skills and community connections to continue to meet individual goals and live a successful life of sobriety.
http://www.gillyshouse.com