#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence (www.enoughplays.com) empowers teens to confront the issue of gun violence by creating new works of theatre that will ignite critical conversations and inspire meaningful action in communities across the country. We promote playwriting as a tool for self-expression and social change by harnessing this generation's spirit of activism and providing a platform for America's playwrights and leaders of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.
Our Program History (or how we had our pilot year in 2020 despite COVID)
Launched in 2019 by director Michael Cotey in response to the consecutive mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton, #ENOUGH received 184 ten-minute plays from teen writers nationwide in its first-ever call for submissions in the spring of 2020. With the guidance of renowned playwrights Lauren Gunderson, David Henry Hwang, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Robert Schenkkan, and Karen Zacarías, #ENOUGH selected seven plays that examined gun violence through the lenses of race, police brutality, community violence, school shootings, and the roots of gun violence in American mythology, and made those plays available to communities across the country to stage as part of a Nationwide Reading.
2020 Winning Playwrights - From L-R: Adelaide Fisher (
Ms. Martin's Malaise), Eislinn Gracen (
Guns in Dragonland), Azya Lyons (
Togetha), Debkanya Mitra (
Malcolm), Olivia Ridley (
Ghost Gun), Sarah Schecter (
Hullabaloo), and Elizabeth Shannon (
Loaded Language).
READ MORE ABOUT THE PLAYS
As it became clear that a return to live theatre would not be possible in time for #ENOUGH's Nationwide Reading due to the COVID-19 pandemic, readings across the country pivoted to online platforms. The plays were co-produced by Alliance Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Goodman Theatre, Orlando Repertory Theatre, and South Coast Repertory in a ground-breaking digital collaboration for the streaming platform Broadway on Demand. In addition to that, 50 communities in 25 states and on 3 continents simultaneously staged local readings on December 14, the eighth anniversary of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
In total: 1,100 artists participated in readings that reached an audience of 6,000 in perhaps the largest theatrical event of 2020.
READ MORE ABOUT YEAR ONE
Join our 21/22 Campaign
#ENOUGH is calling on theatre across the country to join our next campaign! Our goal is to have readings and submissions from all 50 states! We’re looking for partners who can join us to AMPLIFY #ENOUGH to their community, DRIVE the creation of plays by local teens, PRODUCE the plays for the Nationwide Reading, or ALL OF THE ABOVE!
2021-2022 PROJECT TIMELINE
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS // Sept 1 - Nov 1, 2021
We call on middle and high school students from across the country to write and submit 10-minute plays that confront the issue of gun violence. Winning playwrights receive payment for their work, free memberships to The Dramatists Guild, and feedback from professional playwrights. Their plays will also be published by Playscripts in a collected anthology that can be licensed for future productions. (https://www.enoughplays.com/writing) |
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NATIONWIDE READING // April 20, 2022 - 23rd anniversary of Columbine
We invite middle and high schools, colleges, theatres, and other organizations to produce staged readings of the winning #ENOUGH plays in their community for FREE. The reading is an opportunity to create space for dialogue on the issue through a post-show discussion and commit to an action item specific to their community’s needs. (https://www.enoughplays.com/reading) |
Cultivate the important work that this generation is destined to do.
Lend your stages to the young people in your community so that they can rehearse a better, bolder and more equitable future.
Can we count on your voice to help us to say ENOUGH?