Playwright Ben Braun will take a courageous step when his one-man world-premiere play, “Puzzle of Puzzles,” opens Nov. 12 at Three Brothers Theatre in Waukegan.
The nonfiction R-rated play recounts the life of his brother, Rex Braun, who committed suicide at the age of 17 in 2019.
“Puzzle of Puzzles” also delves into Ben Braun’s thoughts and feelings about the tragic event and ways he coped. “It’s just me on stage performing solo,” said Braun, a playwright-in-residence at Three Brothers. “I’m nervous, but I am just trying harder at this point in my life to try to approach the things that scare me instead of running away from them,” he said. “I’m very scared of this. I figure I should explore that.”
The show runs Fridays and Saturdays Nov. 12-27 at the theatre’s Stage 115.
Representatives from the National Alliance on Mental Health will be at the Nov. 13 show and lead a discussion after the play. Braun said his play is not meant to make a sweeping declaration about suicide, but he does hope it will be a catalyst in furthering conversation about mental illness.
That’s why he and Josh Beadle, executive director of Three Brothers Theatre, invited NAMI representatives to lead a discussion. “I’m in awe of Ben’s courage to talk about this and I’m hopeful that we can start opening up a conversation about mental health and suicide,” Beadle said. “It will be a difficult show, but an important one.”
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Braun began writing the first draft a few months after he lost his brother. “To be honest with you, I couldn’t tell you why I started writing it,” he said. “But I felt like I wanted to have a record of what it felt like, and what it was like to be there when it was happening,”
He didn’t want it to be fiction, but rather a real story about his experience. Braun continued working on the play in the middle of 2020 during the pandemic lockdown.
Braun named the play after what he thinks is a major puzzle in life — why we’re here in the first place. “It’s also about finding some kind of meaning through a loss. I talk about that in the show,” he said. “I talk about the complexities of who people are as individuals. Everybody has different facets that make up who they are.
“At the end of the day, I really want the audience to know who my brother was. It’s about him and his life. He played in his high school marching band. He was on the bowling team. He really liked video games and he had a really big interest in astrophysics.”
Braun said he reveals in the play that his friends and family, including his girlfriend Cassidy Skorija, who is directing the show, helped him cope with the tragedy.
Skorija is a Milwaukee-based theater artist and administrator, and works at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She was previously seen onstage at Three Brothers as Martha in “Spring Awakening.”
“We’re mostly trying to make sure that everyone in the rehearsal room is safe and comfortable with what we’re presenting on stage,” Braun said. “We talk a lot about how this is something we went through together, and how do we communicate what’s written in the script.” Braun said,
“I end the show talking about how I’m not special, when I’m doing this, I’m not a psychiatrist, I’m not a psychologist, I’m not a sociologist. I don’t really know how we can address these issues and make any substantial change.”
Inviting NAMI to the show may be one way “to start a conversation about the ways we address mental issues.” Braun said he won’t be surprised if he cries on stage.
But, he said, “I want people to leave not feeling a sense of dread or a profound sadness. I want people to leave knowing my brother was a happy person and he loved having fun.”
‘Puzzle of Puzzles’
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Nov. 12-27
Where: Three Brothers Theatre Stage 115, 115 N. Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $15-$20
Information: 224-419-4325, threebrotherstheatre.com/
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.