Schools

Amity Performing Arts Presents "Bang Bang You're Dead"

Students tackle the serious, timely issue of bullying, peer pressure and the consequences of making bad choices with upcoming play.

Bullying is a hot topic. It drives kids to feel a sense of hopelessness, kills self esteem and all too often leads to suicide or murder as a way to escape their pain.

As Amity works on ways to create a bully free environment for its students in elementary school through high school, the Amity Performing Arts program brings a one-act play to the school for Middle School and High School students to see.

There have been many highly publicized incidents directly related to bullying, most recently, suicides of young gay men who were so tormented by others that, sadly, they saw no other way out.

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Bullying has been a fact of life for as long as there have been insecure individuals who were able to make themselves feel better by picking on others.

The public awareness to the dangers of bullying began with several well-documented school shootings, during which students took the lives of others.

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We all know the name Columbine, for the events of Tuesday, April 20, 1999, when two seniors at Colorado's Columbine High School killed 12 students and one teacher.

Columbine is perhaps the most famous school shooting, but it was certainly not the first: On Nov. 15, 1995, a 17-year-old at Richland High School in Lynnville, Tenn. shot two teachers and a student; On Oct. 1, 1997, a 16-year-old stabbed and killed his mother, then shot nine students, his ex-girlfriend and another girl at Pearl High School in Mississippi. Seven other students were wounded.

On Dec. 1, 1997, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed three girls while they took part in a prayer circle at Heath High School in Kentucky. Five others were wounded; On April 25, 1998, a 14-year-old boy opened fire at an eighth grade graduation dance at Parker Middle School in Pennsylvania. He killed a teacher and wounded another teacher and two students. On May 19, 1998, three days before graduation, an 18-year-old student at Lincoln County High School in Tennessee killed a student, with whom he had an argument about a girl.

"Bang Bang You're Dead" is a one act play written by William Mastrosimone in 1999 to raise awareness of bullying, school violence and its causes. It is a drama to be performed "by kids, for kids" for free. The names of the cities in which the above-mentioned shootings took place are echoed multiple times within the script.

The plot focuses on Josh, a high school student who murders his parents and five classmates. It is strongly based on the events surrounding Kip Kinkel's shootings of his parents on May 20, 1998 and 27 of his classmates at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon on May 21, 1998.

The first production of this play took place at Thurston High School and many of the student actors in the play had been victims in the shooting.  As of October 2009, the play had been performed over 25,000 times.  

While the play deals with the subject of school violence there is no strong language in the play and no guns or weapons appear on stage at anytime. 

In Amity's production, Erik Shepherd plays "Josh," the troubled teen shooter.

"The important thing about my character is that he has problems but no one recognized it," Erik said. "They couldn't help him."

Erik said he thinks students will enjoy watching the play because it's unusual to see a play about people your own age that deals with the issue of bullying.

Kim Simon plays "Katie" a young woman with big ambitions.

"This play is more than just about gun violence, it's about bullying, how Josh spirals out of control and you see how one act affected so many," she said. "It's not your typical play. It's relevant and I hope the other students can relate to it. I think they will. These characters are our age."

Zach Small is "Matt" a young man who is serious about his studies and wants to be heard.

Zach said Matt's future plans include going into politics, but his dreams are shot down.

He said that at first the students in the audience will see the play as a joke, but then the message will become clear and they will realize that it is something that is pertinent to them.

Zev Kupfer is "Michael" a senior and a football player trying to enjoy the life he has.

Zev likes the play, in that he and the other actors have the freedom to put a bit of themselves into their characters.

He wrote many of the lines that he recites in the play, such as, "I miss creating something," and "I'll never look into her eyes and say with conviction, 'I love you.'"

Michael wants to find love and happiness. He wants to be in love, and have kids of his own."

Like Zach, Zev said he realizes that some students won't take it seriously at first, but those who aren't receptive will get the idea after a while. "I hope they'll take it seriously. It's happening everywhere," Zev said. "Bullying is an epidemic."

Director Rob Kennedy said he chose the play for the fall production for several reasons.

"This is a more modern play than last year's, which was set in the '40s," Kennedy said. "The kids get to portray characters their own age, which is rare."

Kennedy said a record number of students auditioned for this play. The first year we had 30 try out, but 90 students auditioned for this one, including many incoming freshmen.

The cast will perform the play for the entire student body from both the High School and Middle Schools (in grades 8-12).

Kennedy said students would have the opportunity to see the play at 9 a.m. one selected day between Dec. 7 and Dec. 10.

Following the play there will be a question and answer session with the director, cast, crew and members of the Amity Counseling Services Department. 

One public performance will take place Dec. 10 at 8 p.m. In lieu of tickets, donations can be made to the Petit Family Foundation.


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