It’s something no one wants to talk about, but something by which almost everyone has been touched.
Ara Barlieb and colleague Pamela Wallace were serving on Lehigh County Suicide Prevention Task Force when she suggested he pen a play addressing suicide.In recent years, Barlieb had written a series of what he calls “human service plays” for Crowded Kitchen Players, including the acclaimed 'A Softening of Her Eyes' that dealt with addiction, racial injustice, and PTSD; 'Unspeakable' which looked at child sexual abuse; and 'Topsy Turvy' which addressed sexual assault.The result is “The Suicide Club” running Oct. 18-27 and Nov.15-17, hosted by Touchstone Theatre in Bethlehem, PA.
Barlieb says he recalled reading three short stories written by Robert Louis Stevenson published in 1878, that are collectively known as 'The Suicide Club.' 
The original play is inspired by characters and events described in the first of the trilogy, “The Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts.” Stevenson is best known for his novels for young adults, “Treasure Island” and “Kidnapped” and his dark exploration of the duality of human nature “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.”
“Robert Louis Stevenson was the master storyteller,” Barlieb says.Barlieb’s play, like the original stories, is set in 19th century England, a time when many of the current attitudes about suicide developed, he says.“At that time, if someone committed suicide, England took all the family’s possessions and put the family out on the street. If the person survived the suicide attempt, they were put in jail. The criminalization of suicide continued until the 1960s.’’In the story, Adelaide Whitlock and Alfred Ogilvy, a rich married couple in 1860s Victorian London, are rocked by Adelaide's year long struggle with cancer. While Alfred still occupies himself with playing the horses and frequenting music halls, Adelaide has lost her will to live.
When they come across a secret suicide club that promises to end the misery of its members without the stigma of having done it themselves, the couple decide it might be diverting to disguise themselves and pretend to be interested in signing up for the club's services.Although Alfred isn’t seriously interested in the reasons for which the club's members have signed on, he soon realizes the depths of their suffering, the insidious nature of the club's mission, and, his wife's serious interest in seeking the club's services for herself.Barlieb says the club is essentially a business that charges people a large fee to kill them and “make the death look like an accident.”"Members are drawn into the web by drawing cards that determine if they are to be killed or must kill someone else.”Although the plays ends on a hopeful note, Barlieb says there are often “no easy answers for people who are suicidal.”Trish Cipoletti and David "Oz" Oswald play Adelaide and Alfred, while William Alexander portrays the devious president of the Suicide Club.Barlieb, who also directs, says when he began rehearsals, he was surprised at how many cast members had had experience with suicide. He says he asked cast members to collaborate with him and add their voices to the play to give them a chance to express their perspectives.When people are confronted with suicide, they often feel disenfranchised, isolated, and don’t know how to deal with it, Barlieb says.The issue of suicide has been one that has concerned Barlieb for some time.He and Wallace spent several years working with Lehigh County Suicide Prevention Task Force alongside health care professionals from Allentown Health Bureau, Lehigh County Coroner's office, Lehigh County MH/ID, and representatives from Lehigh Valley Hospital, Kids Peace, Pinebrook Family Answers, Center for Humanistic Chance, Aging and Adult Services, Project Child of the Lehigh Valley, and American Federation for Suicide Prevention.For the past several years, Barlieb and Wallace also have been filming interviews with suicide survivors, family and friends of those who died by suicide, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, law enforcement professionals and coroners for film they are producing on suicide prevention.He says Lehigh County has one of the higher suicide rates in the state, and he wants to bring attention to that sobering fact.Each performance of 'The Suicide Club' will include introductory and closing remarks from suicide prevention professionals who will be available throughout the evening to answer questions in case anyone wants to talk. There also will be tables in the lobby manned by Lehigh Valley human services agencies with literature and hotline information.“I thought we had to do that,” Barlieb.He also stresses the play does not promote assisted suicide."The project doesn't presume to have answers, but tries to suggest the right questions that need to be asked,” Barlieb says.“We’re trying to create a buzz and keep the dialogue going,” he says. “It’s not a subject people like to talk about; but it helps to talk.”Additional cast members are Carla Hadley, Sharon Ferry, Bruce Brown, Dawn Daignault, Remy Kayal, Alexandra Racines, Donald M. Swan Jr., Tom Epstein, Jeremiah Anschau and Florence Taylor. Original music is by Clark Ferguson.“The Suicide Club” performances are 8 p.m. Oct. 18-19, 25 -26 and Nov. 15-16; snd 4 p.m. Oct. 20, 27 and Nov. 17, at Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. 4th St. Bethlehem.Tickets are $18, and $14 Seniors/Students and can be ordered online or purchased at the door.For information, call 610-704-6974 or go to ckplayers.com.