Valentine’s Day is not a rosy time of the year for everyone. For those who are on a quest to find love but have so far fallen short, for those who’ve recently experienced break-ups, it can be particularly hard. A survey in Better Help suggests that some 15 million young American adults say the day negatively impacts their mental health for some of those exact reasons. 

    Debut Playwright Gaby Rose believes that love should be for everyone and that it could be found anywhere – even in a psychiatric center during a 72-hour involuntary hold. Rose’s play, “Mary Me,” will be on stage  Feb. 13 and 14 at the Town Hall Theatre in Lafayette with a cast full of local artists and actors. 

    “The play centers around several patients and the connections they make inside and outside the psychiatric center in a short period of time,” Rose said. “It explores the way that people can connect with each other in sad and unfortunate circumstances, as well as the ways that people choose to work on themselves – or choose not to.”

    Rose says she can see pieces of her own life and her own struggles reflected back at her with many of the characters. Her mother has a schizophrenia diagnosis. “I hope this play helps people see the humanity in each other.” 

    April Garro, who is also a teaching artist at Town Hall Theatre plays the part of Blue.

    “Blue is a trans woman who's gone through a lot of struggles and has been kind of ostracized by society, by her family, and is struggling with dark impulses and self-harm,” Garro said. “She has lots of anger, but underneath that anger is like a soft, squishy core.”

    It’s not a stretch for Garro, who also identifies as a trans woman, to relate to the character she’s playing on stage. 

    “I feel really connected to Blue, because sometimes we have these defense mechanisms that are up that kind of push people away, because we're not able to really recognize what our actual needs are,” Garro said. “That means we sometimes push people away, when what we actually really want is connection.” 

    If play attendees leave remembering that everyone is struggling with something, Garro says she’ll feel satisfied. 

    Peter Dunn plays the part of Matteo, who has a schizophrenia diagnosis. Dunn says even if Matteo is quirky and talks about non-existent people, he still is worthy of love. “If the audience takes away something, it would be that people, no matter (what diagnosis they have), still might have a heart of gold and might even be trying to get better.” 

    To get tickets for the forthcoming show, visit townhalltheatre.com. There are always ‘pay what you can’ options available to ensure that the play is accessible to everyone.