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Event
Acts of Desperation
"Bang Bang You're Dead is a powerful tool for prevention and intervention." -The Register Guard
"Rats & Bullies can teach you something about yourself, keep your attention, and move you." -The Partial Observer
Conceptualized by TRS Founder and Artistic Director, Ray Buffer, Acts of Desperation is an innovative melding of celluloid, interpretive dance, and dramatic play. Excerpts from Roberta McMillan's documentary film, Rats & Bullies: The Dawn-Marie Wesley Story, are used to influence the dance that provides accompaniment and framework, culminating with William Mastosimone's One-Act Play, Bang Bang You're Dead.
The presentations are followed with a Question and Answer session with the filmmakers, cast and artistic director. The entire event lasts under 90 minutes.
In the documentary Rats & Bullies, Dawn-Marie, a teenage girl, experiences bullying at the hands of three teen girls. Feeling trapped, and not wanting to be a "rat" she does the unthinkable, she kills herself. The note she leaves behind causes a community to question what bullying really is, and for the first time in history, leads a country to prosecute three teens for the threats that they uttered. However, Dawn-Marie's suicide also irreparably damages the lives of those she loved most: her mother and father, her brother and her best friend.
The play by William Mastrosimone, Bang Bang You're Dead is an atypical look into the mind of a teenage killer. Its primary character is Josh, a boy in jail for shooting his parents and classmates. Instead of a look at the path to destruction, the audience sees what goes on after that step has been taken. When it's too late to take it back. They see Josh interact with ghosts of his victims and witness him struggle with the ramifications of his actions.
It's not only a play that reaches out to those teens in the audience that might otherwise become the next school shooter but it is also a story that reaches out to us all and demands that responsibility be taken for our culpability in these horrible outcomes: The angry and cynical school administrator, the schoolyard bullies, the negligent parent and guardians; each of these characters plays a part not only in the play but in the final result.
Acts of Desperation highlights the costs of bullying, harassment, violence (whether inflicted on others or on one's self) and relational aggression, with a focus on the ways in which future incidents can be prevented.
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LocationWarner Grand Theatre
478 W. 6th Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: No |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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Contact
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