Give a Boy a Gun

The Laguna Playhouse Theatre for a New Generation program enters its fifth season in 2005 of offering important issue-oriented plays for teenage audiences with the World Premiere of Give a Boy a Gun. Based on the noted book by Todd Strasser, it is adapted and directed by Donna Inglima, and tells a fictional story about a school shooting similar to Columbine High School.

While there are no easy solutions to the problem of school violence, this powerful play will be a useful tool for parents, teachers and teenagers in exploring this issue and finding some ways of resolving the tragic escalation of teen violence.

The story begins with high school sophomores Gary Searle and Brendan Lawlor, who feel they have been pushed over the edge. Day in and day out, for more than two years, they have been harassed, beaten up, and cursed out by most of the jocks at Middleton High–especially by football player Sam Flach. Armed with guns they’ve stolen from a neighbor’s collection, Gary and Brendan storm a school dance, booby trap all the doors with homemade bombs, and prepare to turn their high school caste system upside down with a violent show of force. The play consists of short, related statements from students, parents, school administrators, and even the troubled shooters themselves.

Each performance will be followed by a question and answer session with the cast members, writers, director and experts in the field.

Not recommended for under age 13, and parental discretion is strongly advised.