Bang, Bang . . . You're Dead

Last night, TV Stevie & I took the Chromos to see the play BANG BANG YOU'RE DEAD. My niece is one of the actors, as is the daughter of an acquaintance. I had no idea what this play was about until we arrived at the little theatre -- which I never knew existed -- in downtown City.

I came home and e-mailed every member of the school behavior committee at X-Chromo's middle school, urging them to go to the final performance (Saturday, May 12) of this season.

Many people may think this production is exploitive of school shootings -- it's "based" on the shootings in Paducah, Springfield, and Jonesboro -- but it isn't. Nor does the production merely focus on the massacres, but also on events leading up to the murders. It also examines bullying. It is compelling, heartwrenching, and gut twisting.

The play may be performed royalty-free, and the script is legally download-able at the: Bang Bang You're Dead website.

After the performance, there was a dialogue between the cast and the audience, which was also enlightening.

The ensemble cast is made up of area middle and high school students. They told the audience how the advertising posters they'd put up in their respective schools were taken down, how requests to bring the performance into the schools were denied by administrators because the title is too disturbing and the fear of copy cat crimes.

No one is claiming these "reasons" are invalid, but the person facilitating the dialogue made an excellent point: schools are too busy locking down to keep the students safe to deal with the behaviors that trigger the events.

It was pointed out before the performance that most of the school shootings happened in rural or suburban -- not urban -- America. What they didn't say was until Virginia Tech, the shooters were all white males. Even the Va Tech shooter was a Y-chromo.

Back in the days when I screened Public Service Announcements for a local TV station, we would receive spots about school shootings . . . but they usually portrayed black males in urban settings. The assistant news director and I always vetoed these spots for air -- he because he's a black male, and I'm the parent of chromos attending urban schools. Reality check, folks. The stereotypes don't portray the reality.

I'll get off my soapbox now, but I hope I've prepared a feast for thought.