Grief Is Coming
Out Sideways
For democracy to survive, we have to tend to that grief. Leaving the Party is a chance to do that.
Leaving the Party is a one-person play and conversation about dads, democracy, dementia, and the grief nobody's talking about.
Daughters
>>
Sons
>>
Politically Curious
>>
Dads
>>
Mom's Raising Boys
>>
Hungry for Complicated Conversations
>>
Listeners and Storytellers
>>
Daughters >> Sons >> Politically Curious >> Dads >> Mom's Raising Boys >> Hungry for Complicated Conversations >> Listeners and Storytellers >>
Grief shows up in unexpected ways
>>
Grief shows up in unexpected ways >>
For DEMOCRACY
>>
For Dads
>>
For Brothers
>>
For the gym bros and video game nerds
>>
For veterans
>>
For the guys trying to make the world better
>>
For the dudes who are struggling >>
For DEMOCRACY >> For Dads >> For Brothers >> For the gym bros and video game nerds >> For veterans >> For the guys trying to make the world better >> For the dudes who are struggling >>
The Crisis
White men accounted for 68% of suicides in 2023. 47% of Americans believe another civil war is likely in their lifetime. And we are in an estrangement and loneliness epidemic.
Unprocessed grief is eroding our democracy. Queer, immigrant, Black, trans, and female bodies can tell you the costs incurred when that grief goes unexamined.
What if all of us — and especially men — had more grief literacy?
Find a Party
New Orleans, LA. Bath, PA. New Market, TN. Minneapolis, MN. Virginia. California. New York. Massachusetts. Washington DC.
Since Winter 2024, 20+ work-in-process sharings have taken place in living rooms, residencies, and fellowship halls. sparks has been talking about grief, dads, politics, and eating a lot of carrot cake.
About ashley
ashley sparks is an itinerant theater maker, facilitator, and certified grief educator. sparks travels and partners with communities to make art and talk about juicy topics like policy, gender, race, politics, class, religion, and what makes democracy work.
As a white queer person who accompanied a Southern-Construction-Worker-Vietnam-Veteran-Fox-News-Watching father on his dementia-induced dying journey, sparks is profoundly aware of complex inheritances.
After a 15-year hiatus from performing, it was time to get back in the saddle and explore what it could mean for ashley’s body to tend to collective and personal grief.