columbinus is a play sparked by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School

Columbine High School massacre

The Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, an unincorporated area of Jefferson County, Colorado, United States, near Denver and Littleton. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, embarked on a massacre, killing 12...

 in Jefferson County, Colorado

Jefferson County, Colorado

Jefferson County , whose slogan is the "Gateway to the Rocky Mountains", is the fourth most populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. Located along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, Jefferson County is adjacent to the west side of the state capital, Denver....

, probes the psychological warfare of alienation, hostility and social pressure that goes on in high schools across America.

Information

Created by the United States Theatre Project and written by Stephen Karam and PJ Paparelli. columbinus weaves together excerpts from discussions with parents, survivors and community leaders in Littleton as well as diaries and home video footage to bring to reveal what it refers to as "the dark recesses of American adolescence".

The first act of the play is set in a stereotypical, fictional American high school and follows the lives and struggles of eight teenage archetypes. These characters are not given names but labels, and the two outcast friends designated in the script as "Freak" and "Loner" are slowly driven to crime and madness by the bullying from their classmates. In act two, these boys become Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold

Eric David Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold were American high school seniors who committed the Columbine High School massacre. They killed 13 people—including teacher Dave Sanders—and injured 24 others, three of whom were injured as they escaped the attack...

, in scenes taken from their videos and personal journals, illustrating the days approaching and including the shootings and the suspects' suicides. The other cast members become survivors and townspeople who reflect on the events.

The cast consists of five men and three women, including extensive doubling up with characters in brief roles as parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and other adults.

World Premiere

columbinus had its co-world premiere on March 8, 2005, at Round House Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland (Jerry Whiddon, Producing Artistic Director, Ira Hillman, Managing Director), and then on May 6, 2005, at Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska (PJ Paparelli, Artistic Director, Jeffrey Herrmann, Producing Director), in conjunction with the United States Theatre Project.

The original cast was as follows:

• Anne Bowles, Faith
• Jeanne Dillon, Perfect
• James Flanagan, AP
• Daniel Frith, Prep
• Gene Gillette, Jock
• Karl Miller, Freak/Eric Harris
• Ekatrina Oleska, Rebel
• Will Rogers, Loner/Dylan Klebold

New York Premiere

columbinus had its New York permiere on May 22, 2006, at New York Theatre Workshop (Jim Nicola, Artistic Director; Lynn Moffat, Managing Director). The production was directed by PJ Paparelli.

The New York cast was as follows:

• Anna Camp, Perfect
• James Flanagan, AP
• Carmen Herlihy, Rebel
• Nicole Lowrance, Faith
• Karl Miller, Freak/Eric Harris
• Joaquin Perez-Campbell, Jock
• Will Rogers, Loner/Dylan Klebold
• Bobby Steggart, Prep

Other Productions

In fall 2009, Paparelli workshopped new text for the show, premiering a new version at Truman State University

Truman State University

Truman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in...

 in Kirksville, Missouri

Kirksville, Missouri

Kirksville is the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. It is located in Benton Township. The population was 17,505 at the 2010 census. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties. The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman...

 in honor of the tenth anniversary of the Columbine shooting. The production was directed by Theatre Department Faculty member David Charles Goyette.

The cast of the Truman State University production was as follows:

• Joanna Bess, Faith
• Kylee Raney, Perfect
• Cherish Varley, Rebel
• Ryan Clark, AP
• Cameron Jones, Prep
• Andrew Stashefsky, Jock
• Jake Wasson, Freak/Eric Harris
• Sam Kyker, Loner/Dylan Klebold

Chaos Ensemble

The Chaos Ensemble, which is a small theater group formed of actors from Providence High School (North Carolina)

Providence High School (North Carolina)

Providence Senior High School is a Charlotte Mecklenburg School District high school located off of Pineville-Matthews Road in Charlotte, North Carolina. Providence serves southern and southeastern Mecklenburg County...

, debuted on December 17th, 2009, with columbinus. They were the first high school to ever perform the edited piece. The choice to perform this controversial play paid off, as The Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer

The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North Carolina and South Carolina...

 named it the "Best Charlotte Show of 2009".

The cast was led by director James Yost, a teacher from the school who mainly works at Theater Charlotte. The cast was as follows:

• Tanner Agle, Freak/Eric Harris
• Jenna Buthman, Perfect
• Cameron Carswell, Faith
• Nathan Connors, AP
• Patrick Kotula, Jock
• Kevin Martin, Prep
• Brandon Rafalson, Loner/Dylan Klebold
• Kelly Wright, Rebel

The performances of Brandon Rafalson and Tanner Agle in the roles of Eric and Dylan, were named by the Matthews-Mint Hill Weekly at #2 on "Best Charlotte Acting Performances of all Time", and the Ensemble as a whole was noted by Lawrence Toppman as the "Revolution of High School Theater".

Praise

Despite its controversial and challenging content, the play has received generally positive reviews. When columbinus premiered in 2005 at the Round House Theatre, Peter Marks

Peter Marks

Peter Vincent Marks is a British businessman, who is the current Chief Executive of the British member-owned retailer The Co-operative Group.-Early life:He went to St...

 of the Washington Post called it, "An ambitious examination of the suburbanization of evil, directed with a surefire sense of theatricality by PJ Paparelli."

Additionally, columbinus received several Helen Hayes Award

Helen Hayes Award

A Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...

nominations including:

• Best Resident Play
• Best Director