DRINK With A Chimp, Common Chorus's new play about one woman’s struggle with addiction and her journey to recovery, will be staged at Friargate Theatre, York, tomorrow night.

Created from the biographical experiences of addicts in recovery, it draws on the 12-step programme of Professor Steve Peters, The Chimp Paradox, in a story of hope for anyone who has ever wanted to be "better".

For the past year, Leeds company Common Chorus has been working with clients at the Spacious Places Recovery Centre in the West Yorkshire city to learn what addiction from recovery involves. An important part of the recovery process is inspired by The Chimp Paradox, which also has helped cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan and Liverpool FC players to control their inner chimps in pursuit of success.

“Drink With A Chimp is about hope, it's about good mental health, it's about what we learn from people who've travelled to the edge and made it back again," says Common Chorus director Simon Brewis. "Working with the clients at Spacious Places, I've discovered so much that's transferable to many parts of my own life.

"I want the story we're telling to help an audience understand how a person gets to that stage and more importantly how the recovery works. Drink With A Chimp isn’t a tragic story; it's a story about how a person can journey from rock bottom to become a role model.”

Recovery from addiction does not only require an addict to stop taking drugs, suggests a Spacious Place Recovery Centre client, who says: "It's about something deeper and more spiritual than that. You see drug addicts on TV and in films and most of the time you watch it and think ‘it’s nothing like that’.

"Helping to make a play that carries such an important message, I feel blessed and grateful. I will treasure it forever. It gave me hope of the endless possibilities now I am on the road to recovery. Once you are free from addiction, you are free from everything.”

Tickets for tomorrow's 7.45pm performance are on sale at £8, concessions £6, on 01904 613000 or at ridinglights.org. A 7.30pm show at South Parade Church, Headingley, Leeds, will follow on Saturday; box office, 0113 275 4989 or at buytickets.at/commonchorus. Please note, Drink With A Chimp contains very strong language and adult themes; the age recommendation is 14 upwards.