A A bestselling novel by A locAl Author gets A new stAge AdAptAtion BY JeSSICA SAnTInA
lmost 11 million Americans have tried methamphetamine, or crank, at least once. And, according to a 2012 study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 1 percent of 8th and 10th graders, and 1.1 percent of 12th graders had used meth at least once in the past year. Author Ellen Hopkins’ daughter, Cristal, was only 17 when she first tried crank—not yet a senior. And that one choice led to 18 years of heartache, jail and prison time, and numerous health issues, including brain damage. Determined to understand Cristal’s story and share it with others, Hopkins, a resident of Washoe Valley, wrote Crank, her 2004 young-adult novel written in verse—a story told through freeverse poems. It went on to become a New York Times bestseller, receive numerous awards and earn the distinction of being one of a growing list of banned books. Now this book by a local author has achieved another distinction: the premiere of its stage adaptation, Flirting with the Monster, which is currently in production by TheatreWorks of Northern Nevada (TWNN) at the Laxalt Auditorium in Reno.
The Spell of The MonSTer
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Crank is a story told in first-person by Kristina, a 16-year-old Reno girl with divorced parents who lives with her mother, stepfather, brother and sister. During a court-ordered visit to Albuquerque to see her father, a heavy
Hannah Davis as Kristina in TheatreWorks of Northern Nevada’s world premiere production of Flirting with the Monster.
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JANUARY 23, 2014
user of alcohol and drugs, Kristina falls head over heels for neighbor Adam, a seductive bad boy “from the wrong side of the tracks” who, in a pivotal moment that changes Kristina’s life, offers her a line of crank (“the monster”). To win his approval she accepts, unleashing “Bree”—what she has named the danger-seeking side of her personality who begins to dominate her life and drive her poor decision-making. Her pursuit of crank drives her to destruction—estrangement from her family and friends, pregnancy at the hands of a rapist, and incarceration for dealing. Hopkins says Crank is a fictional story, but “pretty much all the plot points happened with my daughter.” It’s a powerful, at times upsetting story, which is why many schools have banned it from their libraries. But it’s a story Hopkins says she felt called to write, despite how personal and painful it was. “I want that information out there,” she says. “I do high school visits, and when I’m talking to kids, I’m very clear. I show pictures of my daughter, before and after, and I say, ‘This is who she was, and what she’s become, all because of a single choice when she was 17. All because of a guy.’ It has affected all our lives for 18 years now. It was more important for me to be honest that it was a real story.” Hopkins said it has made a big difference for readers, many of whom are grappling with the same issues. “I get about 200 messages a day on social networks, with people sharing their responses to these books.”