Bang Bang You're Dead (play)

Purpose

William Mastrosimone intended Bang, Bang, You're Dead to be easily accessed and performed by teens “in any modest playing area," and therefore production requires “no set, no lights, no costumes (except for contemporary dress)." Its purpose is to raise awareness of the roots of school violence, which, as Mastrosimone writes in his notes on the play, are not always easily seen. Mastrosimone hopes that the play will help people “see tragedy before it happens." Mastrosimone stresses the importance of young people seeing the play performed by their peers, and therefore he does not allow the play to be on film or video. Mastrosimone hopes to reach out to potential killers in the thousands of audiences that the play continues to gather.

Influence

Bang, Bang, You're Dead! was written in the wake of three school shootings: Thurston High School (Springfield, Oregon) on May 21, 1998, Heath High School (Paducah, Kentucky) on December 4, 1997, and Westside Middle School (Jonesboro, Arkansas) on March 24, 1998. The names of the cities in which these shootings took place are echoed multiple times within the script.

The tragedy most significant to the play was the shooting at Thurston High School. The play, based strongly on the events that surrounded this particular school shooting, premiered at Thurston. It was performed by Thurston students, some of whom had been wounded in the shooting by Kip Kinkel.

Mastrosimone wrote the first draft while troubled by a recent event at his son's school, in which an anonymous classmate of his son wrote a message on a chalkboard, threatening to kill his classmates and his teacher.

New York International Fringe Festival

"Bang Bang You're Dead" was performed at Fringe NYC 2013 by students from the Actors Playground School of Theatre, and members of their theater company, Playground Theatre Project, from August 9 through the 25th. Directed by Ralph Colombino and Dan Cooley, and assisted by Rich Palmros and Stage Manager Gianna Marino, the show was greeted with much praise, led by the performances of Ed Squires, in the lead role of Josh, Ryan Shapiro, Summer Russo, James Garlock, and Caroline Palsi.

Première performance

Bang, Bang, You're Dead, was first performed in April 1999 at the very spot that inspired it: Thurston High School in Eugene, OR.

Reception

The première of Bang, Bang, You're Dead was met with some criticism and controversy as well as praise and even endorsement. Some locals, including Dennis Murphy, the fire chief of Springfield at the time, were hostile towards the production at first. Many thought that Mastrosimone was using the recent tragedies to “cash in.” The play was immediately endorsed by the Ribbon of Promise, a group dedicated to nonviolence in schools, formed in Springfield after the shooting.

Characters

Josh—Josh is the play's main character. The play takes place in his jail cell after he has murdered his parents and five of his classmates. Beneath his arrogant facade, he is deeply insecure and frightened.
Emily- Josh's best childhood friend and next door neighbor, who he had an unrequited crush on, seeing as she was in a relationship with Michael. She is independent and passionate, and refuses to deal with Josh when he does not follow through on plans or promises, triggering much of Josh's anger.
Katie— Katie was Josh's girlfriend but she broke up with him because he went to hunting instead of taking her to a movie. Katie was Michael's girlfriend when she was killed.
Michael—Michael is Katie's boyfriend. He is a strong, sensible presence and does not back down in the face of a challenge. When Josh pushes him out of his anger over Michael tearing his picture of his first buck, he begins to fight back.
Matt—Matt is an older classmate of Josh's, but had never met Josh prior to the shooting. He is a smart, academically driven boy who was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
Jessie— Jessie was friends with Emily and therefore, knew Josh. She is a "girly girl" who spends a lot of her afterlife thinking about how she will never be able to raise a family of her own.
The Shadow—Josh's inner "high", his other half, his inner darkness. Possibly symbolic of the masculine pressure placed on Josh to "fit in" in the way his grandfather and others expect him to.

Actor 1—Actor 1 plays Josh's father, about 30–40 years of age, happily married. He loves his son but does not understand Josh's pain. The actor also plays Josh's grandfather, and the public defender in the court scene flashback.
Actor 2—Actor 2 plays the judge in the court scene and the prisoner who threatens Josh.
Actor 3—Actor 3 plays Josh's mother and the witness in the court scene.
Actor 4—Actor 4 plays the prosecutor and the psychotherapist Josh is forced to see.
Actor 5—Actor 5 plays the school principal, and old headmaster of Josh's school, slouches slightly and squints frequently, intimidating. the jury forewoman, and the police officer.
All five actors act as a chorus, coloring Josh's would-be monologs. They also are the rumors in school and the voices in the dark that haunt Josh.

Plot synopsis

Bang, Bang, You're Dead! opens in Josh's jail cell after he has killed his parents and five classmates. The ghosts of those classmates demand to know why he killed them. Actors 1 and 3 enter as Josh's father and mother. Flashing back, Josh tries to manipulate his parents into buying the gun, his manipulation showing as his parents exit arguing. Josh laughs to himself and says “divide and conquer. Works every time.” The ghosts enclose and push Josh, describing the “hell” he will live in until he answers them. Josh tries to shrug off this torment, but the ghosts seize Josh and push him into his coffin. He screams until he is let out, and “begins to look at the deceased with new respect”.

Josh flashes back to a hunting trip, narrated by the ghosts. Josh sees a buck, but he cannot kill it. The ghosts describe Josh's response to his struggle in a significant series of five lines that is repeated throughout the play:

Michael: So you make your face a mask.
Katie: A mask that hides your face.
Matt: A face that hides the pain.
Jesse: A pain that eats your heart.
Emily: A heart nobody knows.

Josh kills the buck, but is tormented by what he has just done. He hides his tears and brags about it the next day at school.
Josh is called to the school office and is accused of writing threatening words on a blackboard. Josh's parents take away his gun and send him to a psychotherapist. Josh contemplates suicide as voices in the dark taunt him, overwhelming him. A voice in the dark tells Josh to “stop the voices another way.” Josh kills his parents, and, in a monologue, reveals the daily pain he endures. The scene changes to the school cafeteria, and the ghosts once again ask him why he killed them, smearing ketchup where their gunshot wounds were. They then ignore Josh, speaking of what they miss and what they will never do. Josh, in realization, exclaims “I never thought I was taking away all that!” The ghosts tell Josh that they will haunt him for the rest of his life, shouting “DEAD!” one by one, and falling to the ground. The play ends with Josh's monologue:

I didn't know it would be forever. I thought it was "bang
bang you're dead" again. I thought I could just hit the reset
button and start over. Why can't I have another chance?
When I killed you I killed all my possibilities, too.
I'll never have anything to look forward to. Never.
Is this the rest of my life?
(Josh goes to his knees, devastated)
Oh God. [sobbing]

Josh then commits suicide as is shown by the dark side of his choking him. One by one the victims say their goodbyes then the show comes to a close.