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#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence Premieres in More Than 50 Communities on April 20, 2022

 

On Stage Performing Arts Academy To Present Virtual Hampton Reading


The Class of 2022 Performance students of the On Stage Performing Arts Academy (PAA) at Kecoughtan High School are proud to announce their participation in the nationwide reading of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence on April 20, 2022, at 7:30 p.m. PAA will join more than 50 other communities around the United States to perform this year’s winning play selections and hold conversations with the audience about how gun violence affects our community. The pre-recorded reading will be presented via YouTube Live (https://youtu.be/yhu5b4zqj8E).

 

#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence calls on teens to confront gun violence by creating new works of theatre that will spark critical conversations and meaningful action in communities across the country. This year, eight plays were selected by a committee of award-winning playwrights including Pulitzer Prize finalist Rajiv Joseph and Drama Critics Circle Award winner Lydia R. Diamond, as well as Manuel Oliver, whose son Joaquin was murdered in the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, FL. The plays, all written by high school students, address gun violence through a variety of lenses and experiences.

 

“These eight plays not only shed light on the complexity of the issue of gun violence, but they also reveal that gun violence is a symptom of much larger root issues, like racial and economic inequality, that our country has failed to deal with,” says Michael Cotey, #ENOUGH’s artistic producer. “Their perspectives are not only wise but bold, provocative, and vital to the urgent moment we find ourselves in.”

 

This year’s nationwide reading is scheduled to mark the 23rd anniversary of the mass shooting at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The cornerstone performance will be held at Lincoln Center in New York City.

 

“The seniors of the PAA Performance Pathway are hopeful that this event will bring awareness to how this issue affects our whole community as well as to what we can do to cause change,” says Tracy Bourne, PAA pathway teacher and theatre director.

 

In addition to the staged reading, PAA seniors will host a virtual dialogue with select community panelists. Anyone interested in becoming a panelist should email Mrs. Bourne (tbourne@hampton.k12.va.us). Patrons are advised that the subject matter includes discussions - but not graphic depictions - of many forms of gun violence, including school shootings and officer-involved shootings.

 

For more information about #ENOUGH and the nationwide reading visit https://www.enoughplays.com/reading