AN ORIGINAL play by a recovering addict who has become an inspiring force in Burnham’s arts scene, arrives at the Princess Theatre on Friday at 7.30pm.

On July 4, Lewis Coleman, founder of Blue Sky Theatre & Arts, and a member of the Princess Theatre Company, presents ‘The Meeting’.

The play explores the tension between staying on the road to recovery and the distraction of relationships, posing the question, is love the best therapy for former addicts?

Lewis tells the Weekly News: “The plot follows a newly-qualified counsellor in addiction who falls for a girl he meets at an AA meeting. It ends – or begins because the play runs backwards – in tragedy.

“But this is not to say all relationships should be avoided. It is to say, just be careful. Question it.

“There is another relationship in the play that works but they have had to deal with things. It's just they did.

“In the other relationship both of them are running from reality, grief being part of it.”

The 33-year-old, who received treatment for alcohol addiction at Burnham’s Somewhere House, a rehabilitation centre for individuals living with addiction, has been involved with a number of creative ventures.

His play is woven of incredibly raw threads of experience, both from his and others’ recovery.

Lewis adds: “Being in recovery from addiction for the last two years and seven months has opened my eyes to another world.

“I have learnt a lot about the nature of addiction and a lot about myself.

“For instance, I am a sensitive soul and it is something I have in common with many people in recovery. I've tried to run from and deny that sensitivity my whole life.

“But this sensitivity is not a bad thing. I believe it makes me an empathic person, a more caring person. Sensitivity to feelings makes life difficult at times, and so something so big as a romantic relationship with another person is often a painful thing. But relationships will happen. That is life.”

Tickets cost £6/£4 concs for The Meeting – book on 01278-784464 or at princesstheatreandartscentre.co.uk