An Ex-Smoker's Guide To: Smoking on Stage

In the (nearly) three years since I've quit smoking, I've not really had to think of nicotine in terms of my hobby, Amateur Dramatics... that was until earlier this year at least!

When I was asked to play Jenna, a rather foul-mouthed and sometimes foul-tempered 20 something, in Laura Wade's play Colder Than Here however, I was forced to confront this head-on!  And guess what? I found it a DODDLE!

I fully admit that I was a teensy bit phased by this idea to begin with, but (and I believe this is down to the method I used to actually quit) my brain quickly got used to the idea and was busy looking into the alternatives... Here are a few things that I found useful:

1/ Be honest with the producer(s) as early as possible, even as early as the reading.  This is probably something that they're already thinking about, but although there are ways around the actual use of cigarettes in theatre productions - they may not have thought about how the actor/actress actually views nicotine itself!

2/ Does smoking need to be undertaken at all?  In the case of Colder Than Here, a cigarette on stage was required at the very least, however the actual act of smoking wasn't really beneficial to the script/play, so with the use of a little bit of artistic license I was able to avoid even lighting the cigarette.

3/ If there is no way around the act of smoking a cigarette in the play, there are a few alternatives to actually smoking anything containing nicotine.  I found Google search very helpful in pinpointing sites for the purchase of herbal cigarettes (not the best, but at least nicotine free!), and although not seemingly as widely available, I believe there are nicotine-free cartridges for the E-Cigarettes too.

I have to say that I surpassed even my own expectations on this (and yes, I'm quite happy to blow my own trumpet!) that I borrowed some REAL cigarettes off my colleague, carried them round for a whole weekend before passing them to the Props lady, and handled them freely on stage without problem during the run. RESULT!

As a result of this, I can safely say that even as an ex-smoker it is still possible to take on a smoking role in any sort of production - be open with the issue, and proactive with alternatives, and most of all - have FUN!

TQQ!