About the Book:

Theatre doesn't have much relevance anymore. Or so acclaimed playwright Darren O'Donnell tells us in his book, Social Acupuncture. The dynamics of unplanned social interaction, he says, are far more compelling than any play he could produce. So his strongly personal solo show, A Suicide-Site Guide to the City, isn't really a show; it plays with autobiography to explore life as a performance – where despair, compassion, wit and sensuality are seen as reactions to evil, framed as abuses of the power imbalances inherent in differences in wealth, race, sex and age. And it's hilarious.

O'Donnell's artistic practice has evolved into "something as close to hanging out as you can come and still charge admission." With his theatre company, Mammalian Diving Reflex, O'Donnell has generated a series of ongoing events that induce interactions between strangers in public; The Talking Creature, the Toronto Strategy Meetings, Diplomatic Immunities, and Haircuts by Children, bring people together in odd configurations, ask revealing questions and prove the generosity, abundance and power of the social sphere.

Social Acupuncture includes the full text of his one-man show A Suicide-Site Guide to the City and an extensive essay on the waning significance of theatre and the notion of civic engagement and social interaction as an aesthetic.

What people say:

"Wow. Darren O'Donnell has created a beautifully written, wonderfully inventive abstract show that challenges some of the basic concepts of theatre. A Suicide-Site Guide to the City is an amazing experience. It is an awesome piece of work." — The Stage, UK

"O'Donnell writes like a sugar-addled genius at 300 km/h, making fun of his artistic and political past and humbly offering solutions based on what he's learned. Vaulting between extreme pessimism and excitedly dreaming up the sanguine possibilities of simple human interaction, the book ultimately displays a hopefulness antithetical to its occasional dive into the suicidal." — The Globe and Mail

"This is a book that anyone involved with theatre or activism should read, maybe even anyone who identifies as left of centre. He's asking the right questions, and positing interesting answers" — The Dominion

"Part aesthetic manifesto, part play script, and all provocation, Social Acupuncture demands and rewards your critical attention." — This Magazine

About the Author:

Darren O'Donnell is a Canadian novelist, essayist, playwright, director, designer, performer and the artistic director of Mammalian Diving Reflex.