Director’s Notes From John Morris
It was our great honor and pleasure to be able to work with Mr. Mastrosimone on this new incarnation of his effective, and affecting, play, BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD. I had the opportunity to direct this show in its original form just after it became available back in 1998, so I have had many years to think about it. I thought then that it was a quirky but moving little piece that presented vast possibilities for a group of young people with a lot of imagination and energy. (After all, what young actor doesn’t enjoy “dying?!”) With these new changes, the play is more satisfying on the character level; it is much more character-driven. This new empathy brings a lot more honesty and pathos to the story.
The visceral approach that Mr. Mastrosimone uses, his somewhat otherworldly dialogue, and the blank slate upon which he trusts his play to reveal itself, are all aspects of his script that intrigued, and continue to intrigue, me. How many times have we as teachers encountered a Josh in our classrooms; that kid that tends to live in his own head? Like most teenagers, he is a bit self-absorbed, but perhaps a bit more so than most. He represents what most adults would see as an overindulged, sometimes petulant child, all too often satiated by instant gratification and too much outside stimuli. He is an introvert who, like many young people, is quick to embarrassment, and hypersensitive to what he perceives people think about him. His peers may see him as spoiled, a bit hostile, but relatively harmless. And then, one day, quite unexpectedly, this hotheaded young boy does the unthinkable.
Several years ago our campus police officer found a small, somewhat, shabby, very loaded .22 semi-automatic pistol, and a list (with my name included), in a locker on our campus. It belonged to a boy I will call Billy. Billy was a bit of a mess. We had had some trouble with him throughout the year. Nothing serious — a lot of little fights, arguments with teachers, some petty thievery — but nothing to suggest that he had the audacity to bring that weapon to school, the forethought to make a list, and enough pent-up anger to seriously consider such a rash and insane act. The gun was squirreled away, less than fifteen feet from where I sat at my desk, waiting for this student to screw up his courage, which thankfully never happened.
Las Vegas Academy is known for its friendly student body and open, accepting atmosphere, and yet Billy felt like an outcast. I have no idea what has become of him. He was very much like Josh, the sort of kid known as a “sad boy”: full of fractious bravado, but secretly scared of his own shadow. Mix him into a seemingly random and violent world, a school filled with a typically clique-ish student body, a home with either no boundaries or too-strong strictures, with weapons waiting, and it seems to be an all too potent cocktail. I am certain that every school has a potential Josh in their classrooms: a broken boy just one put-down, one blow to the genitals, one casual insult away from emptying his father’s arsenal into the hearts of his abusers. Hopefully in its new and improved version, this play will remind all of us — parents, teachers, administrators, students, and members of the greater communities in which we live — to consistently teach and model that kindness should be practiced as a rule, that hate language will not be tolerated, and that bullying is reprehensible and ultimately destructive.
A decade ago my wife and I produced BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD as part of a teen theatre program we co-founded. Timely then and even more timely now (some 45 school shootings later), the play stands as a warning of what happens when we allow cruelty to flourish; when we permit the put-down artists to operate. We were, if I recall, the fifth or sixth group to produce this show. It has been a pleasure and honor to be able to be the first to try out this new and brilliantly updated version. Working with Mr. Mastrosimone has been rewarding, and I thank him and Michael Fisher for trusting us with this project.
John Morris
Las Vegas Academy Theatre
Las Vegas, Nevada
Spring 2009
Production Notes
The Set
We felt that the space itself isn’t nearly as important to the show as how the actors fill that space. We used three simple levels by pulling five 4×8 platforms and a two-step unit from stock, legging them at different heights and painting them black. We arranged them in a rectangular configuration that delineated the space for the cell, yet leaving levels surrounding that space. However, I have directed the show with no scenery at all, and it is just as effective. The box as drawn by Michael Fisher is a great design; easy to build, sturdy and light enough for the actors to move around the stage. (The only modification I would recommend is beveling back the top of the box on the hinge side slightly, so that the box lid can open to the floor without “springing” the hinges. We were able to do away with the retaining ropes and open the box fully.) The Deceased in our production got quite physical with the box, and it stood up to their abuse. It is important to glue the box together well, and make sure that there is padding so that the actor playing Josh doesn’t get injured. We rehearsed with the box a lot so that we were sure we wouldn’t hurt anyone with it. More than anything, we felt that the set should delineate a dark void, especially during the opening scene with the flashlights.
Lighting
We felt it was very important to have it DARK in the beginning. The opening sequence should be mysterious and a little scary. We can hear Josh struggling as he dreams in the dark; the audience should sit in the darkness long enough for their eyes to adjust, so that when that first flashlight beam hits Josh, it blazes! When the light comes on in the first courtroom scene, it should be startling and a bit harsh, then shifting, as dreams do, from one place to the next in rapid-fire manner. If you have the luxury of having a designer and lighting equipment, having areas of light to move action from one place to another quickly is a big plus for the staging of this show. However, it would play in a general wash just as well, as long as the actors clearly define which character they are playing and the staging is crisp and flowing quickly from one scene to another.
About the flashlights:
We used the 3 D-cell black MagLights, because they can be focused from a tight, bright beam to a wide soft beam. The actors worked to use this feature to “light” the scene. It is a long time for a scene to play with just flashlights, so care and lots of rehearsal are required to keep it from becoming tedious or silly. We also used a little atmospheric haze to accentuate the beams of light. If you don’t have access to this, you can purchase a can of “haze” at any theatrical lighting dealer or even novelty stores. Of course, it is very effective without the haze as well. We kept a spare flashlight hidden onstage, and it came in handy more than once.
The Con Man appeared in our production while we were still using flashlights, but we gave him a dim, eerily colored backlight to accentuate his form. (See the photo on the Icarus webpage.) We felt it was important to not show his face. The flashlight beams stayed with Josh throughout this scene.
For The Shadow, we used a single Source4 Leko with a cool color in it. (A picture of that effect is also on the Icarus webpage.) It was focused on a part of the stage where the audience could see the floor, as it was important to us that we see Josh’s shadow “become one” with the Shadow’s shadow. We also tried an old Fresnel with no lens in it. The shadow was much “crisper” with the lens-less Fresnel, but the light was harder to contain. Whatever method you use, be sure that it is just one light source, or you will have more than one shadow.
We hung three sidelights with the same cool Shadow color and focused them across the stage to represent the jail cell at the end. We never see the jail cell as it is in real life until that point. We felt it should be distinct from any other lighting cue, as it should represent the harsh reality in which Josh finds himself at the end of the action of the play.
It is important to note that this show can play very effectively with just general lighting, but having the ability to light it only enhances the overall impact of the play.
Sound
The piece is written in a cinematic style that can seem difficult to do without distinct lighting areas. However, other theatrical devices can assist in the shifting quickly from one scene to the next. We used a recording of a judge’s gavel, with reverb. To go into the courtroom we played the gavel in reverse, so it made a sort of intake-of-breath sound, then played it forward to move out of the courtroom. This sound became the cue to the audience that we were shifting through “Josh Time,” hopping with him through the different recollections.
We opened our production in total darkness, with loud and angry music, then segued into ambient sounds of a jail, laughter from the deceased, and the jail door closing. Otherwise, we used very little sound during the course of the show. There was the sound of lockers and students when we shifted to the Sugar Baby scene, and we used empty piano riffs under the sections at the end of the play where the Deceased talk about what they miss, and what they will never be able to do. There is justification for a lot of sound effects (bucolic sounds for the woods, school sounds, odd noises from the jail) or for none at all.
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The Shadow
We played him as sinister, but not too sinister; cool, yet somehow detached from the action. He wore shades most of the time, but took them off occasionally to make a point. He also wore a black hoody, which stayed on his head at all times. We thought it was important to never let him be fully seen. We blocked him almost exclusively at the edges of the light. The Shadow always has a sly smile, like he knows something that we never will. He also subtly shares with the audience, and actually stood in the audience to orchestrate the scene in the cafeteria. In our production, as soon as the dirty deed was done in the cafeteria, The Shadow, laughing with great gusto, exited the theater, then the building, and did not return.
The Deceased
There is a lot to be learned about the victims by reading their small monologues during the first courtroom scene. Each character is distinct and clearly written there. Since Josh really only interacted with Emily and Michael in his memories, it is important that the other victims have identities and clear personalities. Obviously Emily is the central character here, and we played her as very sympathetic, yet slowly realizing that Josh has become a totally different person than the one she made mud pies with so many years ago.
During rehearsals for the opening sequence, we tried many different approaches. These people are dead, yet they have been given the singular opportunity to return and face their murderer. We finally settled on a “smart, well-groomed zombie-changeling” approach. I know, it sounds odd! However, we realized that there are times when the Deceased seem almost demonic, especially in the beginning. They are angry and confused. They demand answers. When they don’t immediately get them from the cavalier Josh, they become more and more angry, and we played it full-out, with demonic laughter, even utilizing different voices and inflections. We wanted them to be a little scary. When Josh gets stuffed into the box, they really turned on the smart-zombie work, banging and kicking the box, and when they finally tipped Josh out of the box, they pulled and clawed at him, pulling him down to the floor and pinning him there, leering and speaking right into his face as he frantically tried to escape them. It became very physical at this point. The flashlight sequence didn’t really come to life until we applied this approach. But then, when we got to the courtroom scene, they became very normal, very human characters. The contrast was inimitable. Once we reach that point in the script, and they know they have Josh’s attention, there is no longer a need to “scare” him.
Another turning point in the script is when we step into the first memory sequence, and we meet Grandpa. It seemed to us that at this point that the anger that was initially motivating the Deceased turns into more of a curiosity. They see the whole hunting sequence with Josh. They should be experiencing it first-hand, in that moment, with all the visceral elements in place. It’s as if they see the buck, and also see it from the buck’s perspective. It should be very sympathetic and primeval. Once our actors began to source the buck and the action in sync with Josh, the scene really took off.
One of the big challenges we had with the Deceased was what we called the Big Transition, where we leave Josh for a minute and the Deceased speak directly to the audience. We solved that by having a moment during the lines where they tell Josh that he’ll never achieve his dreams. Michael grabbed Josh and placed him back in the box, which had been returned to the place it was at the beginning. They made him sit there as they filed by his box, treating it like a “reverse viewing” of a dead body. They made him look at them from his own “coffin;” the bed he has made for himself. Then Katie made a very clear choice to address the audience with her line about not being able to order a pizza. We played what we called the “I Miss” and “I’ll Never” sequences as a sharing with the audience first, which then evolved into a self-reflection, then a gradual returning to an awareness of Josh in the box, so that by the time we got to the “I’ll Nevers”, the Deceased had gone full-circle with their awareness. One of my favorite things about this script is the journey of discovery the Deceased are allowed to make for themselves during these sequences. My advice here is, don’t sell them short, but don’t make too much of them either. Let their honesty play, and don’t be afraid to let the actors inject themselves into their characters here. And don’t let it get too maudlin. It should be touching, funny, and bittersweet for it to play effectively. The pace of the whole show should snap, moving cleanly and quickly through to the end.
Finally, the Deceased and other characters have to die many times, which means that they will be bruised and sore. We brought mats out and drilled on proper falling techniques, each actor finding the perfect position for them to “die” while maintaining their health. It really paid off to practice this carefully. Don’t hesitate to bring in a professional fight director or choreographer to help you if you think you need it.
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We always operated under the impression that, because the entire play happens inside Josh’s head, the audience should get the sense that just about anything can happen, as long as it might be a thought that Josh would have. Ultimately, I feel that that is one of the most elegant things about Mr. Mastrosimone’s script. Oh, the possibilities…
— John Morris
The Newly Updated Version
of
BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD
by
William Mastrosimone
was first presented by Las Vegas Academy Theatre, Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts, Clark County School District, Las Vegas, Nevada in April, 2009. The production was directed and designed by John Morris, and was stage managed by Mary Hayden. The student director was Kerry Warren. The cast was as follows:
Josh — Drew Lynch
Emily — Ashley Culberg
Jessie — Ariel Luke
Matt — Matt Ortile
Katie — Nicola Carreon
Michael — Sabe Robertson
The Shadow — Cody Canyon
Voice 1 — Callan Ream
The Con, Defense Attorney, Grandpa, Dad, a Student
Voice 2 — Callie Williams
Prosecutor, Mom, a Student
Voice 3 — Jayde Fair
The Judge, a Student
Voice 4 — Allie Cannady
The Bailiff, the Principal, a Student
You can find out more information about this production and Las Vegas Academy Theatre by visiting