Tokyo-based musician, actor, and writer Martin Leroux is writing a play that focuses on the themes of mental health, depression, suicide, and isolation, which he hopes to put on the stage in Tokyo in late 2016 or early 2017.
To write the script, Martin is collecting stories from people who have had direct or indirect experience with depression and/or suicide.
Martin says: “In Japan, we often hear about people who die by suicide. But we hear of them in news reports as faceless statistics. We rarely hear details about the human beings who made the decisions to end their lives. We rarely hear about what exactly led them down that road. We rarely hear details about the families and friends who have lost a loved one to depression and suicide. Their stories need to be told, especially in a society that stigmatizes, trivializes, or doesn’t understand a very real and painful battle fought by so many on a daily basis.”
Martin plans to work with a team of actors, writers, and musicians to put the submitted stories on the stage, and he asks those with stories to share to write to him at mjleroux@gmail.com.
Earlier this year, TELL hosted a presentation by Kevin Hines, who survived a jump from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge and is now a suicide prevention advocate. Kevin is collecting stories from survivors of suicide attempts in an effort to raise awareness about mental health issues and suicide.
Martin Leroux’s call for stories is another worthwhile effort to extend the conversation about mental health and suicide, and to overcome the stigma associated with those topics. We’re very happy to support his efforts.