Please be advised...this interview discusses mental health & suicide, which some readers may find distressing or triggering.

I am so honored to have been asked to help share Alex Koltchak's story of loss, heartbreak & redemptive love through his one man show, Bent Through Glass.

This is not an easy subject to talk about, but I feel this interview will help keep Alex's daughter's memory alive while opening up conversations around mental health & suicide.

In this interview, Alex answered my call to share:

• The origins of Bent Through Glass: Why he felt compelled to write a show about losing his daughter to suicide

• Grief & healing through art: How writing & performing the show has helped his grieving process

• What he discovered about himself & his daughter in the process

• Impact on audiences: What he hopes people will gain from seeing the show, including how it might help others facing loss, mental health struggles, or suicide in their own lives

• The emotional core of the piece: The hardest scenes to write & perform, what he misses most about his daughter & the memories or traits of hers he most wants the world to know

• Humor amid heartbreak: How unexpected humor emerged from his grief and how he found a way to laugh again after such a devastating loss

• So much more

Connect with Alex: Instagram

Bent Through Glass chronicles a father’s loss of his daughter by suicide. A new play written and performed by Alex Koltchak, the show details Alex's navigation through the remnants with his surviving family, his story raises awareness while depicting the redemptive properties of love.

Drawing on his background as an actor and comedian, Alex threads moments of wry, unexpected humor that arise naturally from the depths of his grief.

Bent Through Glass will play from April 1-25, 2026 at 30th Street Theater in NYC. Performances are Monday-Saturday at 7pm. Click Here for Tickets!

Left to Right: Hudson, Alex, Parker and Rory Koltchak (2017)
Photo Courtesy of Alex Koltchak

1. This April, your show Bent Through Glass, chronicling the loss of your daughter to suicide, will be playing in NYC. What made you want to write this show? In 2022, 5 yrs after Parker’s suicide, Parker’s younger sister, Rory, wrote a college essay about losing her sister.

In it (the essay), Rory expresses vividly the devastation of losing her sister, the weight of her grief and the jagged process of surviving loss.

Once I read Rory’s piece, now a family document, I understood that I had to stand up and tell the story.

2. How has writing this show helped you with the grieving process? Writing about Parker keeps her in the forefront of my mind. My memories, no matter how difficult, help in grieving.

I don’t consider writing, and the retelling of the story, as painful per se. I consider it my way of processing my loss and my grief, a grief that now has permanent residence in my life.

3. How do you hope this show will help audiences? It’s vital for those who have dealt, or might be dealing with mental health challenges, depression and/or suicidal ideation to know: they are never alone. Help is always available. Whether it be a caregiver, hotlines, friends, and/or 911, there’s always someone on hand to listen; it may sound trite, but it’s a deep truth.

I also hope to encourage conversations surrounding mental health and suicide; conversations that should feel safe.

Though difficult, the subject of suicide isn’t taboo and/or a secret that shouldn’t be discussed. Wherever one may find themselves in relation to suicide, it always helps to talk. Silence never helps.

4. What part of the show did you know just had to be told? There are passages in the show where I talk of my taking Parker for granted. I don’t take people for granted anymore.

It’s an age old lesson, and most of us are aware of the risks, at least on an abstract level. That said, I had to share my first-hand account.

Alex Koltchak's daughter, Parker
Photo Courtesy of Alex Koltchak's Social Media

5. What was the hardest scene for you to write & to perform (if not the same)? The retelling of the day we lost Parker: The phone call I got from the police; the ensuing vortex of horror; informing my ex and my surviving kids of Parker’s suicide.

6. What did you learn about yourself or your daughter from writing this show that you didn't know living through it? I’ve learned how resilient, how kind, and how courageous my surviving children are (Rory & Hudson), and how their bravery keeps me afloat.

7. What is one memory or trait about your daughter that you want everyone to know? Parker was loving, funny, empathetic, a good big sister, brilliant and overwhelmingly talented.

She also cared deeply about injustice; believing everyone had the inalienable right to happiness, love and dignified living.

Alex Koltchak's daughter, Parker
Photo Courtesy of Alex Koltchak's Social Media

8. What do you miss most about your daughter? Everything.

9. Press notes state that you had unexpected humor arise out of your grief. How did you find a way to laugh again after such a heartbreaking event? The show is biographical (obviously), much of it dealing with how I got to where I am, a divorced dad with 3 kids.

At an early age I learned to navigate through my own childhood trauma with humor. For better or worse, that humor carried over into my adult life.

There's a lot to laugh at while trying to raise 3 young kids, all born within a 3 year span...

10. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my audience to know about you? I think it's important for people to know that my family is coping and leading purposeful lives. I have a profound connection with my kids. Our mutual love and respect is far reaching. I’ve been given the opportunity to be a proud father.

Alex Koltchak, Photo Credit: Leslie Hassler

More on Alex Koltchak:

Alex Koltchak is a writer, filmmaker, actor, performer, stand-up comedian. He wrote and directed: Methods (Slam Dance Film Festival), I: Ayn Rand (Woodstock Film Festival & Newport International Film Festival).

Definitely Soy; To Love and To Lose; and Age Of Love are Alex's most recent acting credits.

Alex is currently developing a feature-length film script entitled Icarus Beats The Sun. Alex produces the monthly stand-up comedy show, Holy Hand Grenade.