Right Before I Go: A Play Bringing Light to Suicide Prevention
Seven months ago, before the pandemic hit, the play Right Before I Go was set to be performed at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, Connecticut, in March 2020.
Then all theatres closed. The Actors Fund, along with others, helped and continues to help actors with emergency Covid-19 relief, though the doors of theatres all over the country remain shuttered.
George Floyd was murdered. The fight for racial equality and social justice reform continues.
Rising joblessness and isolation created by the pandemic have caused mental illness, anxiety and depression to rise to the surface, seeping through the cracks in our society revealed by the pandemic.
Enter Right Before I Go, a play that not only acknowledges the prevalence of turmoil of mental illness and suicidal thought, but also offers an open discussion and conversation about these issues. Written by Stan Zimmerman, directed by Michael Wilson and produced by Cheryl Wiesenfeld, the aim of the play Right Before I Go is to see an end to that statistic and take the shame away from talking about suicide.
“Suicide has reached toxic levels in our society. People don’t want to deal with it. With Right Before I Go, the mission is to lift the stigma,” said Wiesenfeld in a March 2020 interview.
“When you close yourself up, when you’re embarrassed about things, it’s toxic. When something is difficult, the only way to get through it is to talk about it and to be open about it,” Wiesenfeld continued.
For Zimmerman, a comedic writer for The Golden Girls, The Gilmore Girls and Roseanne, the turn to writing a dramatic play came after his friend Kevin committed suicide in 2012. He wrote Right Before I Go as a way to understand what happened to his friend and to shed light on suicide so that it can be prevented in the future.
“Right Before I Go is the first really serious play that I’ve written,” Zimmerman said in an 2017 interview with The Jewish News.
“After my friend took his life five years ago, I was in such shock. I wanted to use my craft to work with the pain and help others,” he continued.
Right Before I Go is composed of actual suicide notes and attempted suicide notes from people such as authors Virginia Woolf and Hunter Thompson interwoven with Zimmerman’s own narration, where he tells the story of his friend Kevin and provides background on the stories behind the notes.
As the play description states on the Quick Center website, “RIGHT BEFORE I GO brings to life the last words of those lost to suicide including the heartsick, bullied, survivors of war, mentally ill, and the achingly lonely. This poignant, deeply moving, and often humorous play aims to provide a sense of understanding and hope for the living.” Ultimately, the play ends with a message of hope: your worst day is not your future.
Right Before I Go is part of the Global Theatre Program curated by four-time Tony-Award winning Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld, which aims to create theatre that changes the world, bringing light to issues and individuals such as immigration and gun control. As a commercial theatre producer, Wiesenfeld’s personal mission is to change the world, one theatre-goer at a time.
Although Wiesenfeld herself has never dealt with suicidal thoughts, those close to her have. Her friend’s high school boyfriend committed suicide.
“I want audiences to be open. I don’t want people to walk away and think it’s so depressing. We all have to talk about our problems. We have to be open to each other,” Wiesenfeld said.
Ultimately, the play is life-affirming. As Cheryl Wiesenfeld said, “Right Before I Go encourages people to be open to all of life’s up and downs, pleasures and anxieties… When you affirm everything you are, you open yourself up to life.”
The stars of Right Before I Go include the critically acclaimed singer and actress Vanessa Williams, Blair Underwood (Broadway’s A Streetcar Named Desire, A Soldier’s Play) actress, model and writer Hari Nef (Transparent, Assassination Nation), and actor Wilson Cruz (My So-Called Life, Star Trek: Discovery, Broadway Tour of Rent).
After the virtual performance, there will be a virtual live panel discussion including child and adolescent psychiatrist Andrew Gerber, MD, of Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan, CT, and Michael Groat, PhD, chief clinical officer of Silver Hill Hospital.
Today, on World Mental Health Day, Saturday, October 10th, the play Right Before I Go premieres live online at the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts website at 8:00 PM. It is also available on-demand on Sunday, October 11th and Monday, October 12. Half of ticket sales will benefit the suicide prevention organizations The JED Foundation and the Connecticut chapter of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. You can purchase tickets here.
