On Dec. 14, the 8-year anniversary of the shooting at Sandy Hook, the South Bend Civic Theatre will take part in a national reading of seven plays addressing gun violence. The plays are part of #ENOUGH: Plays To End Gun Violence, national short play competition for middle and high school students.

The CIVIC is partnering with Connect 2 Be The Change, a local group fighting against racial stereotypes and advocating to improve the safety and sense of community for young people in the South Bend area, to produce the plays. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Connect 2 Be The Change.

The readings and conversation, performed by local actors and activists, will be streamed virtually beginning at 7 p.m. Dec. 14 and will remain online for the following month. A talk-back about gun violence in our own community will follow and be available for free on the CIVIC’s Facebook page.

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 twenty-three 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.

“Theatre plays a vital role in sparking important — and in this case, life-or-death — converations about issues facing our community,” said Aaron Nichols, executive director for the South Bend Civic Theatre. “We are proud to create a space that will allow us to address the impact of gun violence in South Bend.”

For more information on #ENOUGH: Plays To End Gun Violence or to purchase access to the stream, visit sbct.org/enoughplays.

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.

The South Bend Civic Theatre has been creating and enriching community through live theatre for more than 60 years. Since it was founded in 1957 by two Notre Dame graduates, the CIVIC has grown into one of the premiere community theatres in the nation, staging more than 175 events for more than 20,000 patrons each year. The CIVIC pledges to be a light to illuminate the darkness, a flame to ignite curiousity and imagination and a beacon to guide all toward hope, unity, and understanding.