The White Chip

“Listen, I can’t have a drinking problem, because if I’m an alcoholic then EVERYONE around me is one too – and that just seems statistically improbable”

Despite spending more time drunk than sober, Steven McAlister has managed to graduate from college, create an extremely successful theatre group, get married and thrive in a dream job at one of the most prestigious regional theatres in the United States.

Sure, it’s gratifying to go to an AA meeting where they reward you with a white chip token just for showing up, but does he really have a problem?

Even with an ailing father, a marriage on the rocks and his professional life careening out of control, Steven has a carefully constructed balancing act that keeps it all together – until it all falls apart.

Told with humour, honesty, and compassion, The White Chip is about living with addiction and coming alive through recovery.

★★★★★ “You’re not just watching a play – you’re witnessing a man lay his soul bare in the most honest, captivating and unexpectedly funny way imaginable. It’s theatre at its most alive” London Born and Bred

★★★★★ “An earnest, emotionally bare piece of theatre” All That Dazzles

★★★★★ “The sort of show that makes you want to rush out and see more theatre” A Youngish Perspective

★★★★★ “Thoughtful, sharp and beautifully performed” Theatre and Tonic

Nominee – Fringe Theatre Award – Lead Performance (Play)

★★★★ Broadway World | ★★★★ Everything Theatre | ★★★★ LondonTheatre1 | ★★★★ London Box Office | ★★★★ The Reviews Hub | ★★★★ Curtain Call Reviews | ★★★★ Adventures in Theatreland | ★★★★ First Night Magazine | ★★★★ Jonathan Baz Reviews | ★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions | ★★★★ Harry Theatre Life

Access Performances

Captioned Performance: Wednesday 6 August 7pm

The production is working closely with Performing Recovery, the public face of the Addiction Recovery Arts Network, a non-profit organisation which promotes, connects and shares creative recovery practices thereby reducing the stigma of addiction-recovery. A percentage of every ticket sold will be donated to Performing Recovery.

Leon Clowes, co-founder of the Addiction Recovery Arts Network, will be reading The Alcoholic’s Tarot for anyone with burning questions after the show. As an artist with lived experience of addiction, he offers light-hearted readings of your alcoholic misfortunes using his adapted tarot cards. He’ll also be available after each performance to offer support, advice and guidance or just to chat about anything that may have come up for audience members during the play.