Theatre troupe pulls school shooting piece from upcoming show
During their Tuesday rehearsal, (awkward pause…) members preform a new piece in the auditorium in preparation for the upcoming Junior show.
Following the Nov. 30, school shooting that took place at Oxford High School less than 30 miles away and left four students dead and seven people injured, including a teacher, (awkward pause…) has pulled a piece about school shootings from their Junior show scheduled for Dec. 2.
The piece, written four school years ago and titled “18,” discusses the Parkland shooting. Included were direct quotes from interviews with officers, students and teachers who were involved in the experience.
“School shootings are really prevalent in this country,” Student Director Lisa Chai said. “And a student wrote it … it was the topic important to them, to students, and so that’s why it was written in the first place.”
The decision to pull the piece was not unanimous amongst (awkward pause…) members.
“Some students thought that this was the perfect time to have the piece because something in this world has happened very close to us,” Chai said. “Others had the other perspective where ‘This is a sensitive topic, we should let people sit and reflect before we shove another thing in their face about school shootings again.’”
The conversation occurred at rehearsal hours after the Oxford High School shooting. In the end, Director Heather McKaig said the executive decision to remove the piece was made by adult directors based on the conversation with the troupe.
Photo Credit: Molly Hearsch
