(HOBOKEN, NJ) -- Mile Square Theatre will participate in the Nationwide Reading of the seven winning plays of #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence, a national short play competition for middle and high school students. On December 14, 2020—the 8-year remembrance of the shootings at Sandy Hook— the winning titles will be performed at Mile Square Theatre and nearly 50 other theatres and schools across the country and abroad.

A panel of nationally-recognized dramatists—Lauren Gunderson, Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Schenkkan, Tony Award winner David Henry Hwang, and Karen Zacarías—selected the plays out of 184 submissions from 23 states and three countries in #ENOUGH’s call for teens to write 10-minute plays that confront the issue of gun violence. 

The plays—all written by high school students—tackle gun violence through different lenses, from the threat of and anxiety over school shootings, police shooting, community violence, race, and gun culture in American history.

#ENOUGH has made the plays available for free to schools, theatres, and community organizations to stage a reading of them, either virtually or in-person where possible, and follow that reading with a post-show discussion on gun violence that’s specific to their community.

"We can't talk about gun violence in America only in the aftermath of the most tragic incidents," says Michael Cotey, producer of #ENOUGH, "Through the Nationwide Reading we're allowing every community to create the space and address the impact of gun violence now."

“The issue of pervasive gun violence is relevant to all of us and represents an American tragedy,” adds MST Artistic Director Chris O’Connor.  “It’s heartbreaking that our young people must live in the constant anxiety that gun culture has created. By participating in #ENOUGH, MST is furthering the conversation about guns in our community.”

MST’s reading will include a talkback after the readings with Hoboken Councilwoman Emily Jabbour, Jai Patel (Founder, Students Demand Action for Hudson County), Barbara Pitts-McAdams (Tectonic Theatre, #METOO), and others.

#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence

Monday, December 14 @ 7:00pm

MS. MARTIN’S MALAISE by Adelaide Fisher. Ms. Martin is an ordinary high school teacher, trying to deal with the everyday stress and worrying ‘what-ifs’ of 21st century teaching. But when her worst fears come true, and she is forced to make a difficult decision and an even more difficult confrontation, what will she do? And how will she move forward from it?

GUNS IN DRAGONLAND by Eislinn Gracen. During a recess like any other, Lilah Gordon and her best friend/imaginary dragon, Toucan, set off on a special adventure to help Lilah earn dragon wings of her own. But things go awry when a mysterious noise from her nearby school compels the duo to embark on the biggest quest they have ever encountered.

TOGETHA by Azya Lyons. Imani, Aiyanna, Chayenne, and Aaliyah have just graduated high school and are celebrating at a party in their honor until their evening of entertainment takes a tragic turn.

MALCOLM by Debkanya Mitra. Four individuals tell the story of Malcolm, a Black folk musician whose quest through the Eastern Seaboard to find himself was violently interrupted, painting an evocative picture of the connection shared among strangers through a single life.

GHOST GUN by Olivia Ridley. Propelled by the urgency of his own decay and desperate to be heard, BLACK BOY delivers his “villain’s monologue” – a parting speech typically delivered to a hero before their death – to his audience held at gunpoint.

HULLABALOO by Sarah Schecter. In this re-imagining of Buffalo Bill’s storytelling and P.T. Barnum’s grandeur, a ringleader explores the fusion of American myth and gun culture through four acts of an incredible spectacle – and a show gone terribly wrong.

LOADED LANGUAGE by Elizabeth Shannon. When a rumor about a school shooter begins to circulate, Kiersa and her friends must decide what they should do to protect their classmates before it is too late.

#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence is a theatre activism campaign launched by Michael Cotey in 2019. #ENOUGH strives to spark critical conversations and incite meaningful action in communities across the country on the issue of gun violence through the creation of new works of theatre by teens. #ENOUGH's mission is to promote playwriting as a tool of self-expression and social change, harnessing this generation's spirit of activism and providing a platform for America's playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.  

Mile Square Theatre was founded in 2003 as a non-profit professional theatre. Their mission is to enrich and engage the region through the production of professional theatre and innovative arts education. MST produces professional theatre year round, including shows for young audiences and our annual festival of plays about baseball, 7th Inning Stretch.

The MST Dance Academy provides pre-professional dance training in ballet, contemporary, tap, theatre dance, flamenco and hip hop; classes run on an academic-year schedule. MST Education provides workshops in acting and improvisation for all ages in spring and fall; offerings are designed to help students of all ages develop skills and technique.

Mile Square Theatre is supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and is a member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

This program is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, administered by the Hudson County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, Thomas A. Degise, County Executive, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.