Mile Square Theatre To Read Gun Violence Plays By Students

HOBOKEN, NJ — Mile Square Theater has announced its participation in the nationwide reading of the seven winning plays of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence, a national short play competition for middle and high school students. On Dec. 14 — the 8-year remembrance of the shootings at Sandy Hook— the winning titles will be performed at Mile Square Theatre and nearly 50 other theatres and schools across the country and abroad.

A panel of nationally-recognized dramatists—Lauren Gunderson, Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan, Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, and Karen Zacarías—selected the plays out of 184 submissions from 23 states and three countries in #ENOUGH’s call for teens to write 10-minute plays that confront the issue of gun violence.

The plays—all written by high school students—tackle gun violence through different lenses, from the threat of and anxiety over school shootings, police shooting, community violence, race, and gun culture in American history.

#ENOUGH has made the plays available for free to schools, theatres, and community organizations to stage a reading of them, either virtually or in-person where possible, and follow that reading with a post-show discussion on gun violence that’s specific to their community.

"We can't talk about gun violence in America only in the aftermath of the most tragic incidents," says Michael Cotey, producer of #ENOUGH, "Through the Nationwide Reading we're allowing every community to create the space and address the impact of gun violence now."

“The issue of pervasive gun violence is relevant to all of us and represents an American tragedy,” adds MST Artistic Director Chris O’Connor. “It’s heartbreaking that our young people must live in the constant anxiety that gun culture has created. By participating in #ENOUGH, MST is furthering the conversation about guns in our community.”

MST’s reading will include a talkback after the readings with Hoboken Councilwoman Emily Jabbour, Jai Patel (Founder, Students Demand Action for Hudson County), Barbara Pitts-McAdams (Tectonic Theatre, #METOO), and others.

#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence
Monday, December 14 @ 7pm
For a free link: https://www.milesquaretheatre.org/shows-events/enough-plays

More details on all seven winning playwrights, including bios and headshots, and their plays, can be found online here.

This press release was produced by Miles Square Theatre. The views expressed here are the author's own.