Reviewed by Tracey Paleo, Gia On The Move
Writer Stan Zimmerman (Meet & Greet) returns to the 2015 Hollywood Fringe with a departure piece on the issue of suicide.
A totally staged reading, Suicide Notes: In Their Own Words, is an account of actual letters written by people from all walks of life – veterans to LGBT, bullied teens, well-known historic figures throughout several centuries, even celebrities, including the letters of D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey and Kurt Cobain.
What’s so hard-hitting about these letters is the honesty of the issues each one faces, how specifically and heartfelt they dialog to their friends and loved ones about their feelings and most of all the apologies for the guilt of committing the final act of suicide.
And yet there is an unmistakable clarity in that decision.
Most excellently directed and performed in every way, this show takes us on a journey of evidence a la Vagina Monologues and although rife with fails, ends on one incredibly hopeful note, when a young teenage LGBT boy is found lying unconscious in his room by his parents, revived at the hospital and lives.
The moral of the tale is that living is accepting that life can and will get better — if you are willing.
A portion of the proceeds for this show went to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline. (800-273-8255)
Recommended (if you can comfortably sit through the material)
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