With just under a month left until the final performances, Tabor Academy anticipates the showing of two drama productions. This year, the plays are Bang Bang You’re Dead, a controversial play about school shootings, and Human Geometry, an original play written by one of Tabor’s own English teachers, Mark Howland. While very different, both are interesting and exciting plays that the directors hope will connect with the audience and prompt discussion.
John Heavey, who teaches English at Tabor, is the director of Bang Bang You’re Dead, a play he says is especially relevant in light of the staggering numbers of school shootings this year and in recent history.
“The play sheds a lot of light on the need for gun control,” said Heavey. “The killer in this play is disturbed, but without access to guns, it never would’ve escalated like it did.”
The play, written in 1998, is based on of a real school shooting in Seattle. In the play, the shooter is seen in his jail cell, visited by the memories of the victims that he shot. The ghosts of the victims of the shooting try throughout the play to discover why he did what he did. They never uncover a definitive motive, and at the end of the play reflect on their life. They look back, discussing what they will miss most about being alive and what they will never be able to do because they were killed so young.
Already the play has prompted a lot of frank discussion within the cast. School Counselor Dr. James Mehegan came to talk to the cast about the emotional state of the shooter as well as the responses of the victim in the interest of making the play more realistic.
“Our main goal is to open a dialog,” Heavey said. “We’ll have a Q and A session after each showing and hopefully this will spark some necessary and important conversation.”
While Heavey’s focus is on controversial issues, Howland’s is more lighthearted. His original play, Human Geometry, plays with the idea of how love and math intersect. The scenes go from simple to complex, shifting focus from points to lines to shapes to parabolas and so on. He played with names too, naming two of his characters, Al and Cal, after Algebra and Calculus.
This is Howland’s seventh original play written for Tabor, all seven of which he said would not have been possible without the help of his colleagues and Tabor students.
“Good theatre is always collaborative,” he said. “And this is no exception.”
Howland would send his drafts to Heavey throughout the summer to edit, and Howland consulted with Nathan Meleo, a math teacher, about some of the concepts that he worked with.
Sophomore Maddy Kistler helped with lighting, while senior Nicole McLaughlin choreographed the dance sequences.
“I also played to the strengths of the cast,” Howland said, “and my vision for certain scenes changed as the process went on and I saw everyone’s talents.”
“The play is very Tabor-specific,” Mr. Howland added. “There’s references to Lillard dorm and Cumby’s, as well as some of Tabor’s policies.”
In very different ways, both Bang Bang You’re Dead and Human Geometry promise to have a strong impact on the Tabor community.
By Madeleine Gregory
