An innovative play so new it hasn’t been published yet will be performed this month by actors in the Emporia High School Theatre Department.
“dont u luv me?” by Linda Daugherty looks closely into the lives of teenagers and the differences between healthy and abusive relationships.
The play aims to start conversations in homes, schools and in communities by providing opportunities to ask questions and define healthy dating, according to information from Rosewood Center for Family Arts in Dallas. The play debuted there on April 3.
EHS students first saw the show at the state thespian conference in January. Daugherty came to Kansas for a reading of the play and to present a couple of workshops.
“And my kids got on the bus and said, ‘We have to do this,’” said Amanda Stice, director of theater and teacher at EHS. “The play is not even published yet.”
The EHS production plans dovetailed in a timely way with an event scheduled by SOS, which will bring Denise Brown to Emporia to speak on April 27 at the Granada Theater.
Brown is the sister of Nicole Brown Simpson, who along with her friend, Ronald Goldman, was murdered on June 12, 1994. Simpson’s ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, was tried for the murders and was found not guilty. Since then, Denise Brown has made a mission of educating the public about violence in relationships.
Stice said that she had told EHS Principal Scott Sheldon about plans for the play, originally planned for October of this year during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“Mr. Sheldon said, ‘Well, Denise Brown is coming in April,’” Stice said.
Stice quickly contacted SOS and asked whether the EHS thespians could link their efforts with Brown’s appearance. As a result, a 30-minute cutting of the play will be performed at 7 p.m., before Brown’s presentation at 7:30 p.m.
Stice said “dont u luv me” gives a realistic view of teens, their relationships, and the way they communicate.
“What I found that was appealing and what the kids said, was that Linda captures how high school students talk,” Stice said. “It’s not an adult writing about teenagers. It really is a true depiction of what they see in the hallways and what they have experienced at school.”
The play includes an abundance of technical aspects, with projections, text messages, cell phones and music.
“It’s what our kids do,” Stice said. “She really touches upon the amount of control that students have over one another because of technology.”
In one scene, for instance, a boy menaces a girl with an intimate photo he has taken of her on his cell phone.
“He puts it in her face and says, ‘Look what I have over you,’” Stice said.
Technology has given domineering and potentially abusive people the ability to add another layer of control in the lives of the people they choose to control.
“Students can know where each other are every second of the day because of cell phones and My Space and Facebook and instant messaging. They find out stuff within five seconds of it happening,” she said.
The show, Stice said, will be “amazing,” though probably not appropriate for 13 years old and younger because of some of the language.
“Nothing too terrible, I don’t think,” she said, but perhaps objectionable for the younger set.
Stice is especially pleased with the performances of the two lead characters, Andrew Sanchez, who portrays C.J., and Hannah Watkins in the female lead, Angela. The role C.J. calls for the young man to be abusive to his girlfriend and to treat her cruelly.
“This is such a stretch for Andrew,” Stice said. “Andrew is not like that at all. He is the happy, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky kid. ... He is really putting forth all of his effort into doing the best job he can.
“He was very nervous to grab Hannah or yell at Hannah or get in her face. He was like, ‘But I don’t do that.’”
The cast is made up of: Hannah Watkins, Angela; Jessie Olsen, Jen; Bekah Kvas, Erika; Shuresa Kair, Candice; Lorren Mize, Sara; Andrew Sanchez, C.J.; Delano Mendoza/Grant Saylor-Perkins (at the Granada only), Sam; Jamie Schmidt, Brad; Abdi Dayib, Duffy.
Crew members are: Katie Potter, stage manager (props, lights, projections, costumes); Bridgit Jurgens, light board operator; Katie Haberkorn, sound board operator; Lydia Roemer, shift crew head; and Claudia Jaimes, Andrea Davis, Brisa Waechter and Marah Carney, shift crew.