Mad Horse Theatre Presents A Staged Reading Of DEPRESSION: THE MUSICAL

Mad Horse Theatre's popular BY LOCAL series is back with a staged reading of DEPRESSION: THE MUSICAL (A Depressed Girl's Guide to Depression) by Marianne Pillsbury, Monday September 24 - Wednesday September 26 at 7:30 pm. The event takes place at Mad Horse Theatre, 24 Mosher Street, South Portland. Admission is Pay-What-You-Can with a suggested price of $10.00. Tickets are available at the door only.

After a hiatus, Mad Horse Theatre's BY LOCAL series is back with DEPRESSION: THE MUSICAL, written by local theater artist Marianne Pillsbury and directed by Mad Horse company member Christine Louise Marshall. Emma Stanley is the Music Director and the cast features artists Grace Fosler, Amanda Eaton, Joanna Clarke, and Vi Va.

DEPRESSION: THE MUSICAL (A Depressed Girl's Guide to Depression) is a darkly humorous pop-rock musical about falling apart and putting yourself back together.

The musical presents the difficult subject of depression in a humorous and ultimately uplifting manner, offering an insider's guide to the issues that thousands of people with clinical depression face every day. Depression is often still a taboo subject, yet almost everyone has had experience with it. It's a universally relatable topic that is both timely and timeless. DEPRESSION:THE MUSICAL presents the subject of clinical depression in an entertaining way that inspires and gives hope to anyone affected by depression.

Author Marianne Pillsbury has been creating drama, singing, and writing her own songs since the age of 5. She debuted in Annie at age 10 and has been performing in theater productions including her own original works ever since. Pillsbury grew up in South Portland and graduated from South Portland High School in 1990. She went on to Brown University, where she majored in English and American literature and recently completed a Master's Degree in Theatre Education at Emerson College. After spending 20 years living and working in New York City, where she did everything from being an advertising copywriter to fronting a rock band, she returned to Maine in 2016. Her play STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS debuted at PORT FRINGE in 2016. She is now the head of the Kennebunk High School Theater Program.

Marianne says, "I am very excited to bring this new version of DEPRESSION THE MUSICAL-without me playing the lead role-to Mad Horse in my hometown of South Portland, where I first fell in love with theater through performing in Portland Players and Lyric Theater productions. I am so grateful to Brent Askari for first bringing the show to the attention of Mad Horse; to Christine Marshall for treating it with the right combination of respect and irreverent humor and for understanding that there is meaning behind every punctuation mark in the script; and to Joanna, Amanda, Grace, and Vi Va for generously lending their incredible talent to it."

After the success of last summer's Strong Female Character Teen Edition at PortFringe, Marianne decided to do another teen playmaking project around the themes of depression and anxiety and how they affect the lives of teens today. Over the past summer, she has met weekly with a group of Portland-area teens at Mad Horse. Through various drama activities, she has guided them in creating an original theater piece, which will share the bill with DEPRESSION:THE MUSICAL.

Director Christine Marshall says, "Working with Marianne, and seeing her dedication to honestly exploring, refining and expanding her already fascinating play is a real pleasure, as is watching her thoughtful and supportive work with youth artists. With the support of this passionate, tight crew of dedicated actors, who are facing this important material with enthusiasm and energy, we're very excited to share DEPRESSION: THE MUSICAL in its latest, dynamic incarnation."

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