Sarasota-born ‘Clowns Like Me’ takes mental health play off-Broadway

Jay Handelman, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Updated ·5 min read

In the one-person play “Clowns Like Me,” Scott Ehrenpreis shares his story about struggling with a multitude of mental health issues that have occasionally threatened his life and made it difficult to pursue his love of acting and be in the place he feels most comfortable: on stage.

With a script by director Jason Cannon, Ehrenpreis’ personal story is told with seriousness and humor, which touched a nerve with audience members during an initial run last summer in Sarasota. It became a communal experience with audience members sharing their own challenges in nightly talkback sessions.

“I didn’t realize that what I was saying, a lot of people were hearing their own story,” Ehrenpreis said. “Through my disclosed confession, they were confessing. I learned that I am not a messiah or a prophet but a messenger for help and healing.”

In “Clowns Like Me,” Scott Ehrenpreis recounts his life dealing with a variety of mental health issues, including an obsession with cleaning.
In “Clowns Like Me,” Scott Ehrenpreis recounts his life dealing with a variety of mental health issues, including an obsession with cleaning.

And he is now hoping to spread that message to a wider audience.

The play will return for five performances May 23-26 at the Cook Theatre in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts in Sarasota as a warm-up to a two-month engagement at the DR2 Theatre off-Broadway in New York that begins June 21.

Lifeline Productions, the non-profit started by his father, Joel Ehrenpreis, has raised the money for the New York run, which he said hopes lead to performances elsewhere in the country and at college campuses.

In numerous “jam sessions,” Scott Ehrenpreis shared stories from his life with Cannon, who turned it into a script. “Clowns Like Me” recounts crises that put the actor and others in danger; his obsession with cleanliness; the voices he hears in his head giving him conflicting instructions; and the feeling that he’s in a swirling pool with no way to escape.

Cannon said he has tweaked the script to punch up laugh lines, and to update references that are no longer used. Asperger’s, for example, is no longer a clinical diagnosis. “It’s all part of autism spectrum disorder,” Cannon said. And PTSD is now described as post traumatic stress without the word disorder to “take some of the stigma off it,” Scott Ehrenpreis said.

Jason Cannon is the writer and director of “Clowns Like Me.”
Jason Cannon is the writer and director of “Clowns Like Me.”

Talkback sessions become personal

Cannon said those involved in the production were often overwhelmed by the response of audiences last summer. “We learned again the power of someone being up there being vulnerable and how it empowers everyone else. We realized we need to take a next big step. New York is not the end,” he said.

Audience response was a big part of their thinking in widening the play’s reach.

“I can’t even begin to describe the unbelievable connection people had to the show. It was not just a performance, it was an experience,” said Joel Ehrenpreis. “The talkbacks to me were equally as powerful as the show itself. Things that people were saying, they were hungry to share.”

Scott Ehrenpreis said the audience feedback was surprising.

“I didn’t realize that I’m the audience’s therapist for the night,” he said. “It’s not what I need, but what they need. We let them purge and let it out. I was not expecting this urgency to share. I also realized that I’m keeping the conversation going and as long as we keep it going, I can reduce the stigma, or put a dent in it.”

It was also a rewarding feeling, or what he called “a rush of elation” in hearing the comments. “I felt so happy that by me being so brave made other people so brave. I didn’t realize that what I was doing was changing people’s lives. Even the neurotypical, the normies, could identify with it. I felt this warm embrace from the audience.:”

Joel Ehrenpreis, right, created the non-profit organization Lifeline Productions to produce the play “Clowns Like Me,” in which his son, Scott, shares his lifelong struggle with a variety of mental health issues.
Joel Ehrenpreis, right, created the non-profit organization Lifeline Productions to produce the play “Clowns Like Me,” in which his son, Scott, shares his lifelong struggle with a variety of mental health issues.

It’s a necessary reaction, Cannon said.

“So many people, whether they’re dealing with illnesses themselves or supporting people who are, are suffering in silence, thinking they’re the only ones and no one understands. If there’s one thing I’m most proud of, everytime he’s on stage, we’re providing a counter to the idea that no one else is out there. Even when you feel alone, you are not alone.”

Finding a broader audience

Sarasota videographer Brad Bryan filmed Ehrenpreis’ performance and the edited film was shown at the Sarasota Film Festival and has been used by Lifeline to promote the project, raise money from donors and get support from New York producer Jonathan Demar, who is providing the company with connections in New York.

Actor Scott Ehrenpreis gets personal about his years-long struggle with mental illnesses in the one-man play “Clowns Like Me.”
Actor Scott Ehrenpreis gets personal about his years-long struggle with mental illnesses in the one-man play “Clowns Like Me.”

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Lifeline is taking an unusual route in presenting the show as a non-profit operation. “All the money raised by individuals attached to the mission and not as an investment,” he said. A typical off-Broadway one-person show could cost around $300,000 “just to get to opening night, and then you have to pay bills every week from ticket sales. I wanted to raise all the money for the entire run of the show and not just have the money for opening night and worry about ticket sales.”

He’s close to his goal of raising $400,000 for the two-month run. After New York, Scott Ehrenpreis will probably bring the show back to Sarasota for performances aimed at local college students, a prelude to a possible tour in the near future of college campuses around the country.

Scott Ehrenpreis said having the chance to perform in New York is every actor’s dream. “I feel I’ve arrived to be in the theatrical hub of the world, whatever happens. I’m in New York and I’m performing. What happens from then on is out of my control. I’m just blessed to continue the message and share my story.”

‘Clowns Like Me’

Written and directed by Jason Cannon. Starring Scott Ehrenpreis. Runs May 23-26, Cook Theatre, FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $30. lifelineproductionsinc.org/clowns-like-me. Performances continue June 21-Aug. 18, DR2 Theatre, 101 E. 15th St., New York, NY. Tickets start at $83. 212-239-6200; telecharge.com/clownds-like-me-tickets

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This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: ‘Clowns Like Me’ producers bring mental health play off-Broadway