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Leo Butler, playwright: ‘I want to take the audience on a trip’

The Sheffield-born writer tells how taking part in a clinical trial on LSD gave him the chance to relive his youth – and the subject for his new play

Leo Butler was born in Sheffield in 1974. His plays have included Boy at the Almeida, London, and Lucky Dog and Faces in the Crowd at the Royal Court, where he led the Young Writers programme between 2005 and 2014. His latest, All You Need Is LSD, is being toured by the Told By an Idiot company; while writing it in 2015, Butler was invited to take part in Prof David Nutt’s LSD trials, an experience that formed the core of the play.

Did you know the drugs expert David Nutt was doing LSD trials when you interviewed him for the play?
I had no idea. It was literally as it is in my script: he said we’re doing these tests next Tuesday, would you like to be a part of it? My head was just exploding: I realised, this is the play. On a personal level it was great to go there again [taking LSD] after so many years. But also it brought the play right into the present day, with scientists working on how LSD might be reintroduced in therapy.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/2IuRjtD
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