Gun violence issue comes to stage

Young actors use one-act plays, poetry to spark change in gun laws; 'A Different Kind of Gun Show' stages July 20-28

Seventeen shooting deaths at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, earlier this year triggered a student protest that reverberated throughout the country. But, for some, marches and speeches on television aren't enough.

Developing a play on the topic that she hopes opens minds to common-sense gun reforms, Ruth Jenkins' "A Different Kind of Gun Show" serves as a fundraiser for the national organization Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

A compilation of one-acts and poetry about gun violence, it'll be performed by teenagers from metro area high schools, along with several adult actors.

Performances take place at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 20 and 21 and Friday and Saturday, July 27 and 28.

Jenkins will direct all four shows. She has a degree in theater arts and has directed student productions at DaVinci Middle School in Portland. She is also the co-founder of ComedySportz Portland, which makes use of competitive improvisational techniques.

Jenkins simply wanted to use her forum — stage — to address gun violence.

"It has been building up in me for a couple of years. I wanted to do something about people accessing multiple-firing weapons to release how I feel about this," Jenkins says.

The four one-act plays include "Lockdown," "I Am A Gun," "Clowns with Guns" and "The Talk."

"Lockdown" is a realistic play about a group of students in a classroom who have been plunged into a lockdown situation while a school shooting is taking place.

"This (play) shows that kids are going to school fearful. As the play progresses, the tension builds," Jenkins says.

"I Am A Gun" is told from the point of view of the gun; an actor portrays the gun and describes his methodology during a school shooting.

Jenkins describes "Clowns with Guns" as a "dark, vaudeville-style play, something between a circus and theater." Characters include stereotypes like a cheerleader, a stoner and a bully.

"The Talk" is a piece written by the performers Jadon and Jamie Montgomery, who play a son and his father.

Jenkins brought the idea of a father telling his son "what he has to do to come home alive. They adapted a simple conversation about what a black guy has to do to be safe."

"A Bullet into Bells" will feature poems about gun violence, some focusing on how "gun violence comes from a need to keep people in their place," Jenkins says.

Appropriate behavior

"A Different Kind of Gun Show" will open with a speech about the mature content of the show and about how all the students in the cast knew ahead of time about the nature of the plays.

"We are not here to frighten people," Jenkins says.

Some might question the appropriateness of young people being in a show about gun violence, but Jenkins believes that "these kids, along with the Parkland students, are willing to stand up and say, 'We are not having this.'"

Cast members agreed that gun violence is an issue that affects young people, and must be addressed.

Cowan Jenkins, 21, is a graduate of Grant High School and Ruth Jenkins' son. He plays a bully in "Clowns with Guns" and says he wanted to be part of the show because many people don't see how even peripheral involvement in a school shooting can emotionally affect people.

Theater can provide one of the "most healing ways to discuss" an issue like this, he says.

"We can't shy away from it; we have to address it, and all the people in the play are mature and have thought about it," Jenkins adds.

Aiden Durias, a 17-year-old graduate of Metro East Web Academy in Gresham, plays the shooter in "Clowns with Guns" and noted that although the play does not offer a solution to the issue, it is "giving a wake-up call and satirizes the terrible cycle" of school shootings.

"Many of my peers are disappointed by the adult response [to school shootings] and want to see change," he says.

His monologue in the play gives some idea about his character's motivation, but does not offer up a "nice, neat box as to why he did it," Durias says.

It is "paramount (that students) get involved and it is up to us to raise awareness" about the harm that can come from giving people access to weapons, he adds.

Fiona Jenkins, 18, is Ruth Jenkins' daughter and a recent graduate of Grant High School, where she directed "Lockdown" as a theater class project.

She chose the one-act because it dealt with an issue she cares about, and she likes the idea of using theater to prompt discussion.

Fiona Jenkins is in both "Clowns with Guns" and this production of "Lockdown," and says it is appropriate for young people to speak out about gun violence.

"We are the ones in school who have to deal with the potential of someone coming in with a gun," she says. "It is a reality we have to face and we have to do what we have to do to change that so the reality doesn't become commonplace."

Solving problems

Rachel Michtom, 18, a recent graduate of Lake Oswego High School, plays the "chill pill" character in "Lockdown," telling the others to stay calm, be quiet and don't open the door.

"The first step in solving problems is recognizing there is one," she says.

"Nothing in 'Lockdown' is weird — it is very real. You do not see cameras in a lockdown situation; you see the emotions of what is happening."

Max Bernsohn, 18, who just graduated from Westview High School in Beaverton, plays the "class goofball" in "Lockdown" and the stoner in "Clowns with Guns."

These plays "bring an emotive quality to gun laws — a human quality," he says.

The human element puts a face on the people who are affected by violence.

"It turns them human, rather than just a statistic," Bernsohn adds.

As one of the youngest members of the cast, 15-year-old Jade Leeman, a Grant High School student, says the issue of gun violence is important to her and she wants to see change.

She plays the character Prayers in "Clowns with Guns," in partnership with Thoughts, another character.

"We are part of the metaphor and we don't do anything besides dispose of the bodies," Leeman says.

To those who think a 15-year-old is too young to be in a play about gun violence, she points out that she is at risk of being shot in school.

"It is uncomfortable, what we are discussing, but death is a true fact — we are at risk," she says. "Making a play about a fact of life is making a point that it shouldn't be a fact of life."

"A Different Kind of Gun Show"

When/Where: 7 p.m. on July 20 at First Unitarian Church, 1011 S.W. 12th Ave., Portland; July 21 at Willamette Falls Unitarian Church, 710 Sixth St., Oregon City; July 27 at the Hollywood Senior Center, 1820 N.E. 40th Ave., Portland; and July 28 at the Multnomah Arts Center, 7688 S.W. Capitol Highway, Portland.

Tickets: Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and students, and can be purchased with cash at the door or in advance online at www.portlandcomedy.com/buy-tickets.

More: Shows will be 90 minutes of performance and 30 minutes of talk back with a panel. Due to mature themes and language, this show is recommended for ages 12 and up.