In May, 2001, Meghan Gardiner was at a house party when she blanked out for hours, waking up to a terrifying reality that has now been translated into a play.

Blind Spot, taking the stage at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Thursday, Oct. 8, tells the story of a teen’s experience with date rape.

“My drink was spiked with what I now believe to be GHB (a street drug used for date rape). I lost about13 hours of my life, and let’s just say I didn’t wake up alone, nor did I wake up thinking I was going to write and perform a play about my experience,” said Gardiner.

While attending theatre school at UBC, Gardiner was asked to write a 10-minute solo piece, and saw the chance to explore the implications of that awful night. Titled Dissolve, the piece was later expanded to 45 minutes. After performing the play in more than 100 schools across North America, Gardiner could no longer meet the demand, so she spoke to Vancouver’s Green Thumb Theatre about taking the project under its wing.

Winner of 19 Jesse Richardson awards in the last 10 years, Green Thumb has a 30-year reputation as one of Canada’s leading theatre companies for young people, exploring social issues relevant to the lives of youth and young adults. 

The producers immediately saw Dissolve’s potential, and Gardiner was commissioned to adapt and expand the play, which opened two years later under its new name, Blind Spot.

 The production looks at the pressures teens face to become sexually active as they move towards adulthood. Although Green Thumb believes that young Canadians face the same problems and concerns that adults do, they know that many kids are disempowered from effectively confronting difficult or complex situations.

The play challenges the true definition of consent, and the ending is unexpected. Audiences are prompted to re-examine their beliefs and prejudices, and to define their feelings and aspirations. Green Thumb’s most successful performances are when adults attend with their kids: the after-show talk-back with the actors takes on an extra dimension. 

“This is a story that needs to be told,” said Gardiner. “As long as the issue is ignored, women will continue to wake up frightened, ashamed, and terribly confused. Those victims need to know that they are not alone”.

Blind Spot will be shown to high school groups Thursday at 10 a.m. and the general public at 7 p.m. Admission is by donation. The play is suitable for audiences of 12 years and up.