The Marsh Adds Free Performances of THE WAITING PERIOD

 The Marsh has added free performances in February of The Waiting Period, marking the 10th anniversary of its suicide prevention effort, offering no cost public performances of this hit show written and performed by award-winning playwright and actor Brian Copeland, developed with and directed by David Ford. This deeply moving and surprisingly funny work outlines Copeland’s own struggles with depression and suicidal thoughts and is presented at no cost to remove all barriers for those who may be struggling with depression themselves. Featuring humorous, poignant, and riveting insights, The Waiting Period will play 12:00pm, Sunday, February 4, 2024, at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeleyand 12:00pm, Sunday, February 11, 2024, at The Marsh San Francisco, 1062 Valencia St., San Francisco. Thanks to the support of generous donors, general admission tickets are FREE. Supporters may donate $50/$100 for reserved seats, funds which make it possible for others to see the show at no cost. To order free tickets or reserve seats, the public may visit themarsh.org.  

To support this groundbreaking piece, one can also donate to the GoFundMe site. “This play saves lives,” said Copeland. “Since we started offering freeperformances at The Marsh in 2014, so many audience members have told me they suddenly recognized their own symptoms or those of a loved one, in time to intervene before they committed the ultimate harm to themselves and devastated their families.” For more information about the ongoing fundraising campaign or to help The Marsh meet its $80,000 goal with a tax-deductible donation, please visit gofundme.com/f/nf5z9-help-us-help-people-with-depression. 

This captivating drama provides an unrelenting look at a key turning point in Copeland’s life—the mandatory 10-day waiting period before he could lay his hands on the newly purchased gun with which he planned to take his own life. Laced with surprisingly comical moments that serve as a buffer against the grim reality of his intentions, Copeland hopes this very personal, and ultimately redemptive, story will reach people who struggle with depression—often called the last stigmatized disease—as well as their families and loved ones. As critic Sam Hurwitt put it in The Idiolect: “It’s a play I’d strongly recommend to anyone who is now or has ever been depressed or who knows someone in that situation. But honestly, it’s such a strong piece that I’d recommend it just as heartily to anyone who’s ever been human.”   

  

The Waiting Period opened in 2012 to overwhelming critical and audience response and has been lauded by survivors and co-survivors of depression. The show won a Theatre Bay Area (TBA) Award for Outstanding Production of a Solo Play in 2015. Copeland launched this series of free performances to providean opportunity to reach those who need to see the show but have been unable to due to the price of admission. A number of people struggling with suicidal thoughts have told Copeland that seeing his piece has literally saved their lives. 

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