Plays About Guns, With Varying Aims

In the midst of the #NeverAgain movement, can theatre artists foster nuanced conversations on the polarizing topics of gun violence and gun control?

Katherine Fitz | American Theatre

"'I’m not interested in writing a play about gun control,' says Jennifer Barclay, whose Ripe Frenzy is being produced around the country this season as part of a National New Play Network rolling world premiere. It will next play at Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta (April 13-May 6), and Greenway Court Theatre in Los Angeles (May 17–June 17).

"Barclay continues, 'If I wrote a play about gun control, it would be a lecture instead of a question. I want to write political plays that are also flawed, personal stories. And in this play, I’m interrogating the way that media reinforces the notoriety of mass shooters, the way that we as a country take in this news and how that cycle can pave the way for the next shooter to come along.'

"Barclay’s colleague Jared Mezzocchi knocked on her office door at the University of Maryland as footage from the on-camera murders of reporters Alison Parker and Adam Ward started to emerge on Twitter feeds. The gunman, who was wearing a GoPro at the time of the assault, forced a nation of viewers to literally examine the incident from the perspective of the shooter."

Photo: Veronika Duerr and Henry B. Gardner in”Ripe Frenzy” by Jennifer Barclay at New Rep Theatre. (Photo by Kalman Zabarsky)