HOLD MOMMY'S CIGARETTE HAMILTON

Award Winning Actress and Producer Shelley Marshall is back with her Award winning production of "Hold Mommy's Cigarette" her own personal story of an unfiltered life. Today, Shelley is known as a starlet, a successful writer and comedienne, a social media guru and a proud mother of two gay children. What you may not know is that twelve years ago, she was on a much different and darker path. Last week, Marshall acknowledged the twelfth anniversary since her suicide attempt. Her husband who walked in on her called for help and managed to hold onto her body and as fate has its magical way of working, the cord that was wrapped around her neck snapped. This was her lowest point of her life and one that would later inspire material for her play ‘Hold Mommy’s Cigarette’. Marshall has a long history of mental illness in her family and her life has been marked with many trials and tribulations yet somehow, Marshall has managed to rise above and turn the depths of her sadness into tremendous success. This story and many other stories that tend to go untold shows the magnitude of the importance of bringing awareness to mental health illness. Depression is as dangerous a disease as any. While there are many efforts working to remove stigma around mental illness now, twelve years ago, this was not the case. Hold Mommy’s Cigarette has opened the door to Colleges, Mental Health Facilities and even coffee shops for Shelley to speak about mental illness and her true-story relationship with its effect.