Greasepaint presents columbinus for three performance only. Sept 6 through Sept. 8. columbinus is staged through Greasepaint's Bare Bones program, an annual production that focuses on social justice.
columbinus, a play sparked by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO, is a meeting of fact and fiction that illuminates the realities of adolescent culture by exploring the events surrounding the shootings. The play weaves together excerpts from discussions with parents, survivors and community leaders in Littleton as well as police evidence to bring to light the dark recesses of American adolescence
This play was requested by Greasepaint's own high school students and will no doubt generate a great deal of audience conversation.
To facilitate, there will be a talkback immediately following each show. These will be led by Gerry Hills, one of the founders of Arizonans for Gun Safety, a nonprofit organization whose missions is to "engage individuals, organizations and public officials from diverse communities in a statewide campaign to end gun violence."
When columbinus premiered in 2005 at the Round House Theatre, Peter Marks of the Washington Post called it, "An ambitious examination of the suburbanization of evil," and the play went on to receive five Helen Hayes Award nominations including the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play.
Following the off-Broadway opening at New York Theatre Workshop one year later, Variety proclaimed: "This one comes straight from the gut-a wrenching return to the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in which 12 students and a teacher were killed when two senior classmates went on a shooting rampage. The United States Theatre Project's smart and sensitive treatment of the event, which traumatized a suburban Colorado community and shocked the entire country, stirs up thought and feeling in this clean ensemble production, drawn from interviews, public records and the private diaries of the shooters."
Please note: Due to language and subject matter, it is up to the discretion of parents as to the appropriate age for kids to see this production. We don't recommend for younger than high school students
Cast: Nainoa Aguano, Spencer Blanchard, Bennett Curran, George Nassar Sophia Penn. Ever Ruiz, Ali Tichavsky, Eden Tornquist
Director: Pete Bish
Created by the United States Theatre Project
Written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli
Dramaturgy by Patricia Hersch
Conceived by PJ Paparelli
Rundates: Sept. 6-8, 2019
Showtimes - THREE performances only - Talkbacks immediately following each show
Friday September 6, 2019 - 07:00 PM
Saturday September 7, 2019 - 07:00 PM
Sunday September 8, 2019 - 02:00 PM
Ticket Prices: $20
Box Office: 480-949-7529 Greasepaint.org
Venue: The Historic Stagebrush Theatre, 7020 East 2nd St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Videos