Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, now showing the musical “Dear Evan Hansen,” will host a panel discussion, “Dear Social Media: The Search for Identity, Connection, and Belonging,” on Friday at 5 p.m. In conversation about the promise and perils of growing up online, the panel will feature Maya Days, who plays Evan Hansen’s mother in the production, Katie Hurley, a youth mental health expert, and Remi Bader, a fashion and body positivity influencer.
In a world that’s always online, where there is cyberbullying and too much comparison with lives unrealistically portrayed, it’s crucial to have a safe space to discuss social media’s impact on youth mental health.
In an interview last week, Tracy Mitchell, Bay Street’s executive director, said the panel plans to explore “suicide and issues that a lot of people feel very uncomfortable talking about,” adding that one purpose was to give people, whether parents or teens, a chance to ask, “Well, what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to help my kid? I’m a teen, or an adult for that matter, struggling. How can I reach out and where to do that?”
“Having that conversation, I know a lot of people just hesitate. Sometimes keeping quiet is not the best thing.”
One of the panel’s goals, to educate attendees on the dangers of internet use, is exemplified in the musical. The story follows its depressed protagonist, Evan Hansen, who, having written an ambiguous letter, gets mistaken as the best friend of Connor Murphy, another teenager who recently committed suicide.
When Hansen tries to explain that he was not friends with Murphy, his awkwardness overcomes him as he gets caught up in a lie. Upon creating the Connor Project and making a speech to his school that goes viral online, Hansen is drawn further into the lie, exacerbating his stress and depression.
“Evan Hansen is a high schooler who is sorting through his life the way all teens have to,” Ms. Mitchell said. The musical and panel address how, through social media, fabricated stories can be elevated to a point at which people believe they are true.
According to Ms. Mitchell, what theater does best is present a unique world onstage, and a good show will lead to discussion. The panel will be beneficial for those who want to delve deeper into the show’s themes, she said. “It gives them a place to start.”
Tickets start at $25, and $50 tickets include a drink ticket for a cocktail reception beginning at 6. Tickets for $75 or $100 further support the Kind Mind, a nonprofit organization that aims to use the transformative power of theater to support the mental well-being of young people, and the JED Foundation, which focuses on suicide prevention. These can be bought on the Bay Street website but do not include admission to the 8 p.m. “Dear Evan Hansen” performance.