The Globe and Mail Young Actors force teen suicide out of the closet BY CAROLINE ALPHONSO, VANCOUVER An orange-haired teenager runs across the stage followed everywhere by her purple-haired inner self. She's dealing with her parents' breakup, pressures from her boyfriend for sex, how to act with friends and all the other aching insecurities of teenage life. Sara's life gets more unbearable with each passing scene. She screams for somebody to listen to her. Has she had enough? Win she kill herself? The audience, made up of about 1,300 students at Point Grey Secondary School in Vancouver, watches attentively from seats on the gymnasium floor or in the bleachers. So do the parents of Josh Platzer, a former student at Point Grey, who hanged himself just over a year ago. Josh would have celebrated his 17th birthday this Wednesday. Instead, his family, friends and fellow students marked the occasion by gathering in his old school to see Ice: Beyond Cool, a dance-theatre production about teenage suicide. It was his mother's idea to bring fee to the school as a way of promoting healthy dialogue on a topic that she says is too often avoided. "Kids need something that will speak to them," Jude Platzer said in an interview. The show was prompted by the shocking statistic that Canada has one of the highest rates of teenage suicide in the world. It evolved out of workshops that asked about 300 teenagers to share stories about their lives and fears. The production, which debuted at Vancouver's Pacific Centre three years ago, will appear across Canada in shopping mall, where teenagers supposedly feel comfortable. Eventually it will play in eight cities. Wednesday's show, staged by Dance Arts Vancouver, was a dress rehearsal specifically to commemorate Josh. The 15-member cast - only one of whom is in his teens - acts out the day-in-the-life story of teenagers. The acting and dancing help to counterbalance the some- times preachy message. "It's designed to give you guys a voice," choreographer Judith Marcuse said in her opening remarks to students. As the 90-minute production unfolded, however, some students seemed to grow restless, many taking long washroom breaks. "It's pretty good but it's too long," James Louie, a Grade 9 pupil, said after the show. Students quickly made their way out of the gym, with only about 30 students remaining for the talkback session that's held after every performance. Regardless of some negative feedback, Marcuse says the show has the potential to save lives. "I think teenagers don't have a voice in our society,' she said. "Art will act as a catalyst for social change." The show's debut to critical acclaim three years ago prompted Marcuse to spend the last two years raising money for a national tour. But she has run into snags. About 500 companies, many of whom sell products to teenagers, didn't want to be associated with the production. "People are frightened of the subject. It's one of the taboos in our culture," Marcuse said. "It's just too scary." The tour is being funded by, among others, the Millennium Board of Canada, Health Canada and the B.C. Ministry for Children and Families. The company is still fundraising and hoping that sponsors will join in as the tour progresses. "That's really a sad state of affairs in Canada that nobody is sponsor- ing the show," said Brendan O'Grady, a Grade 12 student at Point Grey. He and classmate Krista Sung said the theatre production raises awareness of the lives of teens and teenaged suicide. Both students knew Josh, who was described by his parents as a kid who met his curfew and had good friends, but was depressed. "I don't think adults take us seriously sometimes," Sung said. "There's always stresses in our lives." Ice: Beyond Cool tours several Canadian centres this fall including Ottawa (St Laurent Centre, Sept. 27-30); Toronto (Trinity Square, Eaton Centre, Oct. 4-7); Winnipeg (Portage Place, Oct. 11-14); Calgary (Southcentre Mall, Oct. 18-20); Vancouver (International Village, Oct. 28) and Victoria (Memorial Arena, Nov. 1-2).