pm, is startlingly moving and thought-provoking. It only lasts approximately 45 minutes, but it contains so much emotion and substance that audience members will not realize it was so short. I am not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears watching this play, so emotion-sensitive viewers may want to bring a couple of tissues. While not explicitly violent, the nature of some of scenes are overwhelming, and as such, I would recommend that children who are elementary school age or younger not see it.I have to confess that I was not sure if I would enjoy this play before I saw it. I figured that a free play meant to combat school bullying would not be one of OHS’s best productions.
I was completely wrong.
From its confusing beginning to its horrifying ending, this play is different than anything that has been performed at OHS in years, if not decades. This is obvious in the play’s first scene. A boy named Josh (Robert Piscitelli) talks to Emily, Katie, Michael, Mattie, and Jesse, five students he killed (Anastasia Zitko, Sydney Defranco, Caleb Tolin, Maggie Cummings, and Lauren Asbury, respectively). They ask why he killed them, and he casually tells each of them why. One person was in the “wrong place at the wrong time.” Another had to die at some point, so he said she “might as well get it over with, right?” The six students then describe what holding a gun feels like, and how it empowers people.
One of the most unusual aspects about this play is that it does not follow a strict timeline. It starts out with Josh talking to the victims of the shooting, then jumps to Josh convincing his parents to let him buy a rifle when he was a child. Throughout the play, the ghosts of the teenagers that Josh killed often jump into the scene to comment on what’s happening or how the shooting has affected Josh’s life. The names of four school shootings- Jonesboro, Springfield, Paducah, and Columbine- are repeated many times during the play. Another phrase that is repeated multiple times in the play is, “So you make your face a mask. A mask that hides your face. A face that hides the pain. A pain that eats your heart. A heart nobody knows.” This is one of my favorite lines from the play because it shows how deep and powerful the play is.
Because the play does not follow a distinct timeline, it does not have a distinct ending. My only criticism of the play is that the ending is uneventful. It is just as strong as the rest of the play, so it is very powerful and interesting, but it does not stand out from the end of other scenes. If the end was not followed by a curtain call, I would not have known that the play was over.
Maggie Cummings said that the premiere of the play “went fine” and that people should come to see it because it is very “enlightening.”
Anastasia Zitko agreed, stating that it was “pretty good,” and people should come because it is “very emotional.” Mr. Taylor, the Director of the play and the theatre teacher, thought that there were a “few hiccups,” but there are “always a few hiccups on opening night.” He said that the “message is so important” and that the play is “powerful.”
I could not agree more with all of these statements. The play was emotional, moving, and heartbreaking. It made me think about violence and school shootings, and it reminded me how easily lives can end. The play is less than an hour long, and there is no price for admission, so anyone who is free Friday or Saturday night should come see it.
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