Reviews & Testimonials
Houston Chronicle Play Reviewed, 2003
Some parents view contents as `too dark’. A student play that explores the consequences of school violence was canceled after one public performance at Memorial Middle School because some parents felt the subject is inappropriate. Read More >
“My school performed your play for he first time today in front of the student body. I plan on going again with friends from another school when it opens for the public. I had read the script before I saw it. It was powerful when I had read it, but when it took life in front of me with people I knew, it really hit home. Josh was played by my tennis partner and my number one lawyer below me on the mock trial team. It was really disturbing to see him up in front reciting those lines, I talk to the kid every day, and to hear those words out of his mouth was very uncomfortable. The entire play was uncomfortable, and I think that it was uncomfortable for everyone that gave it a chance. Your play forces people to think about a uncomfortable situation, and it takes on such an incredibly new meaning when it’s the people you know saying and doing those things. The play hits the audience like a bullet, but not the bullet that kills, the one that challenges. It challenges everyone in the audience to think about what they are doing, how they are acting, and how their actions really do affect the lives of others. The end of the play came, and the audience sat for a second, no one clapped for a couple seconds. No one knew what to do with themselves. I knew that it was one of the most powerful things I had ever seen, and it was done very well, but I couldn’t clap, I couldn’t really concentrate for a while. I just kept thinking. Your play is a social savior. I firmly believe that by showing this play to every kid and person in America, you would have done a world of difference in the way we live. I know you have done a world of difference in the way I live. Thank you, I hope you realize that what you have written is tragic, yet beautiful.”
May 2002
RC
“Dear Mr Mastrosimone,
I recently staged your play here at Redcar & Cleveland College and the audiences pretty much felt the same way about it as I did when I saw it last year at the Edinburgh Fringe – fantastic! It is a great piece of writing and was a pleasure to direct. I’m sure you would have enjoyed the performance and appreciated the respect that it earned from the students who performed in it.
It will be a challenge for me to find a work that offers the same opportunities for actors of this age group (17-21 years) as I am sure that they will expect other dramatic works on their course to be of an equally high calibre.
On behalf of myself and the performers ‘Thank you’.”
T.T. Performing Arts Development Manager
“i loved the movie. thank you. I get picked on a lot and one time I actually did make a hit list. my friends caught me writing the names down and told. thank you so much. i have a different view on violence now.”
–rebekah 14 Oct 2002
“Your play really depicts the truth about what goes through someone’s mind when in a situation of overwhelming depression brought about by school pressures. About twelve years ago I was expelled form high school after it was discovered that I was carrying a loaded .38 caliber gun and about thirty rounds of ammunition. My intent was to remove myself from the pain that so many had caused me, but not before I had taken the lives of those who cheated me of the fairness that I so much deserved. My plans were never carried out (thank god), and I was forced to receive counseling. Today, I no longer have animosity towards those who tormented me, but I do wish they could have understood what they were doing was wrong. Your play is a teaching tool that helps to educate future antagonist not to continue the brutality.”
–JK 11.11.02
“…From the moment [the movie BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD] began until the last credit rolled, there was dead silence in the room. Then…I saw my son stand up and walk over to my husband and I. He just stood there quietly for about 15 seconds and then he just burst into tears and gave us the biggest hug we have ever felt in our lives. We all just stood there for a while crying and holding each other. Then my son looked me and said, ‘I’m sorry mom.’…I believe in my heart of hearts that this program helped to save my son’s life. I do not know where he would have been in a year or two if he would have continued on his road of destruction…You have helped save the lives of hundreds of other children whether they are in front of, or behind, the barrel of a gun.”
“…it is always easy to condemn the people who carry out something like a school shooting, but you never seem to get the chance to hear things from their side. Truth is that we never really know what they were thinking, but I think your play hit things head on.” T.G.
“i don’t know where to start. i was tormented in high school. Many times I wondered what it would be like to take all my aggression out on the student population. I am glad I didn’t. so I contemplated suicide. I’m glad I didn’t. it is about time that someone takes the chance and shows the world what can happen if someone is pushed too far. I cried from beginning to end when I watched…thank you for trying to put an end to teen violence in school” N.B.
“i loved the movie. thank you. I get picked on a lot and one time I actually did make a hit list. my friends caught me writing the names down and told. thank you so much. i have a different view on violence now.” R.
“While I was never “pushed to the edge” in school, I was one of the many bullied children…I was always physically on the small side and slightly overweight (a.k.a., the “perfect target” as I was once told by a bullie)…I am now 45 years of age. My thanks comes from the catharsis I went through watching the Showtime picture and segment of your play. I have never cried over a movie, television show or theatrical production in my life, until now.” S.A.
“All right.you understand.that was amasing.you just don’t tell the cops all right.it’s okay now.all I have to say is lives are saved and you understand.well ummmmmmmmm i talk too much.thank you so much for helping i’ve had a hit list for 4 years and it’s gone now.thank you you’ve just saved many lives.don’t tell any cops though…healed wounds and battle scars” M.O.
“For any acting teacher, finding material that today’s kids are excited to work on is always a battle. I think that they felt like they were not only in a play [BANG BANG YOU’RE DEAD] but also doing something really important that could change the world for the better. I thank you so much for all the positive ways you affected my students, artistically, intellectually, and socially.”
–Ralph Colombino, drama teacher Actors Playground School of Theatre