"People are nothing without the land" - one of the ensemble cast of RADE (Recovery through Art, Drama & Education) says - and throughout this humbling, interesting experience, this thesis is explored through the mapping out of the connections between the pharmaceutical industry, Afghani farmers and their poppy fields, fugitive Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman (head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the world's most powerful drug traffickers), American drug policies, and these 11 performers, who have all struggled with addiction.

What makes the production compelling is that there is a real catharsis here, not only in the subject matter of their songs, which are commentaries on the truth behind the curtain, the absent ethics of drugs companies, but also in the redemption that is to be found in facing down the personal truths amid the faceless politics.

Under the deft guiding hand of musician Sean Millar, the cast sing of despair and decay, but it is woven with a thread of hope, and most importantly, truth. As the cast stand beneath a stained glass window that reads "this window was erected by his children", the evening light that shoots through becomes a kind of metaphor for living, with this piece encouraging a different way of seeing, and it’s something like grace.

Star rating: ★★★★