''Cruising'' is an Australian play written by Alexandra Edmondson. It opened at the Tap Gallery in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. ...

, Sydney, on 6 March 2008. Prior to opening, the play was responsible for much media debate in Sydney. This was initiated by the Sydney '' Daily Telegraph'' which ran the headline "Stage play 'an insult to Dianne's memory". The newspaper alleged that circumstances in the play were similar to the real life alleged

drink spiking In slang, a Mickey Finn (or simply a Mickey) is a drink laced with an incapacitating agent, particularly chloral hydrate, given to someone without their knowledge with the intent to incapacitate them or "knock them out"; hence the colloquial name ...

and

death of Dianne Brimble Dianne Elizabeth Brimble (10 April 1960 – 24 September 2002) died aboard a P&O Cruises cruise ship of a drug overdose. She is alleged to have been neglected and received callous treatment at the hands of passengers, and to have been given the ...

and contacted Mark Brimble (Dianne Brimble's ex-husband) for a statement. This caused a "

media frenzy Media circus is a colloquial metaphor, or idiom, describing a news event for which the level of media coverage—measured by such factors as the number of reporters at the scene and the amount of material broadcast or published—is perceived to ...

" in the press and the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's Radio National was quick to follow up with an interview of Mr. Brimble and the playwright.

2UE 2UE is an all-music radio station in Sydney owned by Nine Entertainment Co and run under a lease agreement by Ace Radio. It currently broadcasts from its studios in Pyrmont, New South Wales. History 1920s 2EU Electrical Utilities applied to the ...

and Channel Seven's

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology A ...

program also joined the debate as did The Australian newspaper.Stage play 'an insult to Dianne's memory' , The Australian
/ref> The merits of the play were argued in the Australian national press. The debate concerned whether artists had the right to use recent, real life, horrific events as inspiration for their work. The Daily Telegraph later reviewed the play and described it as having "a ferocious energy throughout."

References

Australian plays 2008 plays {{2000s-play-stub