Then, the audience shares their own.
Quantum Theatre’s rendition of E.M. Lewis’s “The Gun Show (Can we talk about this?),” doesn’t take sides. Instead, it invites discussion, said the one-man show’s star, Andrew William Smith, noting a line from the performance, “The commentary is killing the conversation.”
The show will be unlike anything Quantum has done before, both in content and venues, said Karla Boos, the theatre company’s artistic director and founder.
3 comments:
“The Gun Show” sounds incredibly powerful and moving. I have been told that Quantum Theatre, which I believe a number of Carnegie Mellon professors work with, performs theatre that extends far past traditional works. I am so here for it. This play seems to push this boundary in a number of ways, but I particularly love how it invites the audience to actually create a conversation about guns. Being in the Pittsburgh community, this topic holds especially relevant. I still am brought to silence, and often tears, when I pass Tree of Life. I hope that this space created by “The Gun Show” allows audiences to feel they can safely speak on some of their feelings amidst the gun violence this country experiences on the daily. Turning this discussion over to the audience to share their stories is a unique way to engage people in theatre that I have not seen before, but I hope it promotes healing and progress.
“The Gun Show” remind me a lot of the Playground piece “Process and Produce,” which invited discussion about the Tree of Life Shooting. It began with actors inviting the audience to simply walk around the space with them while the actors shared their experience and feelings during the aftermath of the event. Afterwards, they invited the audience to do the same. You could participate, you could just watch, and you could leave whenever you wanted. I think that this format is an interesting and innovative way to use theater to start important conversations and to provide a safe space for people to share their thoughts and process their emotions. Oftentimes, people are afraid to express their true emotions for fear of being judged or dissented but establishing an environment in which all feelings are recognized as valid seems much more effective than an open forum of complaint and argument such as the internet.
If “The Gun Show” is anything like “Process and Produce,” I think it will be an effective tool not only for facilitating conversation, but for facilitating understanding of our own feelings and opinions as well as those of others.
I love the final words of this article. In this country, we all have a gun story and I appreciate the sentiment that all of those stories are valuable. I have found that in processing my emotions after each mass shooting that I am very judgemental towards myself for feeling so deeply hurt and in some cases traumatized by these events because for the most part they do not directly have any impact on me. I have not lost anyone I loved to gun violence. I haven't even seen a gun outside its holster before. Who am I to struggle to get out of bed on Valentine's Day because I am so overcome with sorrow over the anniversary of Parkland. That is a really negative and damaging thought process that I think a lot of people my age struggle with. Emotional trauma cannot and should not be measured or be considered a competition. Everyone deals with the constant presence and threat of gun violence differently and that is okay. I think this show will be immensely helpful in that sense.
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