The World Premiere of Saudade's MY FAVORITE SUICIDE Comes to 905 Cole Theatre

Saudade Theatre, the first Portuguese theatre company in the United States, presents the World Premiere of My Favorite Suicide, written and directed by acclaimed Portuguese playwright Mickaël de Oliveira, in a coproduction with Lisbon-based theatre company Colectivo 84. My Favorite Suicide is an apocalyptic play that pits society and nature against each other, in which one extreme situation is debated in context of another, even more extreme circumstance. Performances of My Favorite Suicide will run from Friday, October 18 through Sunday, November 3, 2019, at 905 Cole Theatre at Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop in Hollywood, CA. For more information and tickets please visit https://www.saudadetheatre.org/my-favorite-suicide.

With nine performances over the span of three weekends, the 80-minute play will run on two-out-of-three Fridays and all three Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 7:30 pm. There will also be a matinee on Saturday, October 26th at 3:00 pm in lieu of a performance the evening of Friday, October 25th. There is no intermission. Tickets cost $20. 905 Cole Theatre at Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop is located at 905 Cole Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038. Recommended ages for audience members is 16 years and older.

On the verge of apocalypse, four friends grapple with the strangest of all human acts. What deaths do we give ourselves and what countless tales do we tell about them? My Favorite Suicide was written by Mickaël de Oliveira exclusively for Saudade Theatre and translated by dramaturg Maria Inês Marques for this World Premiere production. The highly acclaimed Portuguese playwright blends classical philosophy and contemporary cynicism, placing importance on social and political analysis, and also experimenting with form.

Saudade Theatre is committed to telling stories that affect social change. My Favorite Suicide inspires innovative dialogue by breaking the silence and taboo around this heart-wrenching subject while providing audiences with helpful suicide intervention and prevention resources. The company has partnered with the Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee to invite local nonprofit organizations to be present at each performance.

Saudade Theatre's production team includes Vanessa Varela (Producer), Filipe Valle Costa (Assistant Director), Garrett Crouch (Stage Manager, Lighting Design) and Drum & Lace (Original Music and Sound Design). Saudade's coproducing partners, Colectivo 84, are represented by Mickaël de Oliveira (Playwright, Director) and Maria Inês Marques (Translator, Dramaturg). The ensemble of Oliveira's My Favorite Suicide includes Saudade Theatre Founder and Co-Artistic Director Filipe Valle Costa (Snowfall, FX; Chicago Med, NBC), Co-Artistic Director Diogo Martins (José Saramago's Skylight), Liliana de Castro (Psi, HBO) and Joy Brunson (This Is Us, NBC; Snowfall, FX).

SPECIAL SHOW EVENTS:

• The Opening Night performance on October 18 will be followed by a Q&A moderated by the Chair of the Pasadena Mental Health Advisory Committee, Salina Corral, Psy.D. She and the playwright, Mickaël de Oliveira, will discuss mental health and suicide as well as his inspiration and approach to writing this new work.

• In the second weekend of shows, audiences will get to hear from the ensemble in a cast talkback on Sunday, October 27. Valle Costa, Martins, de Castro and Brunson will share their personal experiences with mental health and suicide, their preparation process for My Favorite Suicide and their performances in the play.

• In the final weekend of shows, the performance on Saturday, November 2 will be followed by a talk from guest speaker and fitness entrepreneur PJ Stahl, MA, CSCS, who will explore the spaces of mental and physical health in a talk titled, "Courage to Talk and Strength to Listen."

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