Quantifying the impact of suicide is a business of estimation. According to the Centers for Disease Control there were nearly 45,000 suicides in the U.S. in 2016. For each suicide there are at least six people who suffer a major life disruption and at least 147 people who are exposed to the trauma. For a more complete picture we need to factor in attempted suicides. It is estimated that for every suicide there are 25 non-fatal outcomes. Even conservatively, the number of people in the suicide impact zone is in the millions. All that devastation. All that grief. All those stories.
The people in that impact zone – friends, lovers, acquaintances, witnesses – are the focus of Dragon Hunting Support Group. Hudson (Jack Venton), the support group coordinator, is preparing for their first meeting. After the four group members enter, Hudson gently encourages each of them to share their story. “In order to slay your dragons, we need to hunt your dragons.”
What follows is a series of moving vignettes in which each group member explains why they are there. Each explanation cleverly morphs into a depiction of their story with actors playing different roles.
We hear from Matthew (Tristan White), a soon-to-be priest whose desperate friend confides in him; Haley (Amanda Matousek), a high school student who witnesses a suicide; Ben (Alee Moyes), a college student whose boyfriend is in distress; and Ellie (Rebecca Cohn), a teen recovering from a catastrophic car accident who befriends a veteran while in physical therapy. As the survivors tell their stories they wonder what they could have done or should have said. They counsel and console each other.
Finally, it is Hudson’s turn to describe the dragon he is hunting, and we get another story, one less frequently told, from someone living in the impact zone.
The stories take surprising turns and all of the actors delivered emotional, yet subtle, performances. This production from The Theatre at Anne Arundel Community College was well-directed with inventive use of lighting and on-target sound production. I look forward to seeing more from this creative group of artists!
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Dragon Hunting Support Group by Jonas Pallaro-Sonneborn. Director: Corey Hennessey . Featuring: Rebecca Cohn, Amanda Matousek, Alee Moyes, Jack Venton, Tristan White. Stage Manager: Stephanie Condon. Production Manager: Sean Urbantke. Produced by The Theatre at Anne Arundel Community College. Presented at Capital Fringe Festival 2018. Reviewed by Michelle Rago.
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