The Columbine Project
Ten years ago the United States witnessed one of the worst tragedies in modern history. The attack by two deeply disturbed and alienated students from Columbine High School which left 12 students and one teacher dead deeply shocked the nation and acted as a wakeup call to reexamine our educational system and the unhealthy environment that exists in the nations schools. A new play by Paul Storiale called The Columbine Project examines the events and the possible motives of the people involved. By doing an incredible amount or research into the eye witness accounts, the personal diaries of the killers as well as the victims Storiale has created a gripping gut-wrenching play that left many in the audience stunned and weeping.
The story recounts how a sociopathic young man, Eric Harris, together with a weak willed but intellectual follower, Dylan Klebold, systematically hatched a plot to kill 250 of their fellow student and teachers to gain some sort of revenge for being ignored and/or mistreated and to create a crime so heinous that a video game would be made of their slaughter. Storiale does not sentimentalize their story but shows how even good parents and alert teacher might miss the underlying alienation these boys suffered. Storiale makes no excuse for their actions and instead lays down several “reasons” for their actions, violent video games, peer pressure, an atmosphere where all but the jocks were called “faggot”, your average teenage anxiety, a desire to belong, the silence of school officials in dealing with the alienation and abuse happening under their noses, a desire for parents to trust their children and be blind to how their kids can manipulate them, and the overall violence in our society as a whole. Through heartbreaking passages from diaries to recreations of the scene inside the school, the 911 calls, and court proceedings, this sad tale is told.
The cast is generally quite good especially the two boys who play Eric (a chilling Artie Ahr) and Dylan (a sensitive Justin Mortelliti). Rya Meyers plays the devout Christian girl with the good heart, Rachel Scott, who was the first victim. Her reading of her diary was a highlight. Even Enslow was strong as the boys friend Brooks Brown. Marguerite Wiseman was especially powerful as the mother of a black student who was brutally murdered solely because he was black. The play still needs some tweaking and some of the staging, necessitated by the broad stage and the need to get furniture on and off, is slow. A better set might have solved some of the problem. The Columbine Project plays at the Avery Schreiber Theatre until May 16th.
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Theater: Avery Schreiber Theatre
Web Site: http://www.averyschreibertheatre.com/
Tickets: (818) 766 9100
Dates: Through May 16, 2009.