Playwright’s note: On April 20th, 1999, at Columbine High School, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 classmates and a teacher, before killing themselves. They wounded 24 others. I, like so many Americans, was shocked and deeply disturbed watching the media coverage that horrible day. I felt I had to do something. So, I flew out to Littleton, Colorado to talk to members of the community. Over the span of a year, I made seven trips, and I spoke with more than 60 people, including injured students, a young woman who was friends with both the killers and one of the victims, the parents of the only African-American student who was murdered, police officers, the pastor at the scene, teachers, and reporters. The entire text of the play is taken from my interviews, except for the words of Eric, Dylan, and one of the victims, which are taken from their journals. There are twenty-six characters in the play. In 1999, immediately after the massacre at Columbine, I felt a line in the sand had been drawn that our country would never cross again. Unfortunately, since 1999, there have been over 100 school shootings in the United States. In April of 2007, several days before the 8th anniversary of Columbine, 33 people died at Virginia Tech. In 2008, there were five school shootings in one week, including the one at Northern Illinois University, which left six people dead. In February of 2012, three students died at Chardon High School in Ohio. Two months later, seven students were killed at Oikos University in California. And on December 14th, 20 small children and six adults were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. This has become a national epidemic. Our society seems content to observe the violence, but takes no effective steps to end it. I am hoping that the massacre at Sandy Hook will be a tipping point for Americans to take action. I feel A Line in the Sand is more relevant now than ever. I believe this play has the power to create a dialogue, which is the first step toward awareness and social change.
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Mission Statement: The mission of my work with A Line in the Sand is to try and make a difference by starting a dialogue about how we can stop this national epidemic of school shootings. Too many young people have died from this senseless gun violence. An average of 8 young people die per day in the U.S. from gunfire. We must make a change. We must admit there is a problem, and then look for solutions together. What can we do to prevent this from happening again and again? First, we can have a dialogue. Every performance of the play is followed by a post-show discussion about the issues raised by Columbine, including bullying, cliques, easy access to guns, parenting, violence in the media, and conflict resolution, and building more compassionate school communities. Some positive actions we can take toward prevention: Join a local gun control group |
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Production History for A Line in the Sand: New York International Fringe Festival (August 2001) Schools that have seen A Line in the Sand include: Summit High School (NJ)
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