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 23 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. 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 50 school shootings in the United States. In April of 2007, several days before the 8th anniversary of Columbine, 33 people died at Virginia Tech. And in February of this year, there were five school shootings in one week, including the one at Northern Illinois University, which left six people dead. This has become a national crisis. Our society seems content to observe the violence, but takes no effective steps to end it. I feel A Line in the Sand is more relevant now than ever, and I believe this play has the power to start a dialogue. The most important question we can ask is, “What are we going to do about this, together, for the children in our country?” |
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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? 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, violent media, and conflict resolution. 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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