#ENOUGH
#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence is a theater activism campaign that sparks critical conversations on gun violence and inspires meaningful action in communities across the country through the creation of new works of theater by teens. Launched in 2019 by Michael Cotey, #ENOUGH's mission is to promote playwriting as a tool of self-expression and social change, harnessing this generation's spirit of activism and providing a platform for America's playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.
As many teens return to classrooms for the first time since the pandemic, #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence is giving them a platform to explore the impact of gun violence on their lives and communities by writing 10-minute plays. Submissions are being accepted now through November 1 and the call is open to all writers across the U.S. in grades 6-12.
#ENOUGH is teaming up with a growing coalition of theaters and educational partners with the hope to have play submissions and a series of simultaneous readings in all 50 states. This year’s campaign builds upon a successful 2020 program in which 7 plays were selected from 184 submissions and co-produced in a ground-breaking regional theater collaboration for Broadway on Demand. More than 1,100 artists participated in 50 readings across 26 states and across three continents, reaching more than 6,000 people.
"One of every ten gun deaths in our nation is a young person under age 18. Gun violence shouldn’t be a part of growing up. That's why youth voices are critical to advancing the conversation around ending gun violence,” says Nicole Hockley, the mother of Dylan who was killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy and co-founder and managing director of Sandy Hook Promise, an #ENOUGH community partner. “#ENOUGH offers students a unique opportunity for artistic expression that can kickstart the social change needed to create safer schools and communities.”
Statistics on gun violence in the United States:
· Each year 39,000 Americans die from gun violence—an average of 100 per day.
· Guns are the second-leading cause of death for children under 18.
· 2020 was one of the deadliest years on record, with the overall rate of gun violence-related deaths likely being the highest in the last two decades.
“Gun violence is an epidemic. It’s beyond school shootings, beyond any single incident, and even beyond the loss of our own loved ones,” says Manuel Oliver, #ENOUGH selection committee member, gun violence prevention activist, and father of Joaquin “Guac” Oliver—a victim in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. “My wife and I founded nonprofit Change the Ref to empower future leaders and raise awareness about mass shootings. And that’s why I am excited to support this next iteration of #ENOUGH.”
Oliver will judge submissions with nationally acclaimed playwrights Lydia R. Diamond, Naomi Iizuka, Rajiv Joseph, Mary Kathryn Nagle, and Don Zolidis. They will select 6-8 scripts to be published by Playscripts and produced nationwide in a series of simultaneous readings on April 20, 2022, the 23-year remembrance of Columbine. The teen playwrights will receive memberships and craft training from The Dramatists Guild and each will receive a $500 stipend sponsored by Change the Ref.
Interested students can learn more at enoughplays.com/writing.
This year’s selection committee includes a gun violence survivor, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, one of the country's most produced Native-playwrights, the most produced playwright in American schools, and two of the country's most acclaimed playwrights join forces to select this year's plays. Top row L to R: Lydia R. Diamond, Naomi Iizuka, Rajiv Joseph. Bottom row L to R: Mary Kathryn Nagle, Manuel Oliver, Don Zolidis.