Announcement
Boston, MA —
On Monday, November 3, Emerson College will stage a reading of Gunplay, a play by Frank Higgins that explores the complexity of America’s relationship to guns. The performance, directed by Senior Distinguished Producer-in-Residence Benny Sato Ambush, includes a multicultural, interracial cast of Emerson students, Emerson Performing Arts Department alumni, and faculty actors as well as professional actors from the Boston region. Following the reading, Ambush will lead an audience discussion. Emerson’s presentation of Gunplay takes place at 6:30 p.m. in the Greene Theater, located on the 6th floor in the Tufte Performance and Production Center, 10 Boylston Place (a pedestrian walkway located off Boylston Street, halfway between Charles Street and Tremont Street). The event is free and open to the public and seating is first come, first served. For more information, visit emerson.edu.
Through dramatic vignettes that are historical, humorous, informative, and poignant, Gunplay’s kaleidoscope of views explores the mystique and power of guns in the United States. The play represents many points of view about guns and gun violence without taking sides and does not support any particular perspective; instead, it encourages audiences to form their own conclusions.
The theatrical reading is an extension of Emerson College President Lee Pelton’s commitment to holding conversations about gun violence on campus. Pelton’s encouragement of the Emerson community to find ways to contribute to the discussion prompted director Ambush to present a reading of Gunplay on campus. “My hope is that the play reading will galvanize potent and useful discussion about the concerns and issues surrounding the overwhelming presence of guns, their use and misuse, in American life,” said Ambush. “This reading and discussion will demonstrate the power of live theater to contribute to an essential conversation of our time.”
The 14-member cast of Gunplay consists of: local professional actors Diego Arciniegas, Miranda Craigwell, Liz Hayes, Cliff Odle, Jeffrey Song; Performing Arts faculty members Assistant Professor Christina Marin and Associate Professor Craig Mathers; and Emerson College Performing Arts students Julian Aldana-Tejada, Rachel Brunner, Jordan Matayoshi, Maria Alessandra Esparza, Michael Kelly, and Nyla Wissa, and alumnus Marc Pierre.
About the College
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, opposite the historic Boston Common and in the heart of the city’s Theatre District, Emerson College educates individuals who will solve problems and change the world through engaged leadership in communication and the arts, a mission informed by liberal learning. The College has 3,780 undergraduates and 670 graduate students from across the United States and 50 countries. Supported by state-of-the-art facilities and a renowned faculty, students participate in more than 90 student organizations and performance groups. Emerson is known for its experiential learning programs in Los Angeles, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, London, China, and the Czech Republic as well as its new Global Portals, with the first opening last fall in Paris. The College has an active network of 51,000 alumni who hold leadership positions in communication and the arts. For more information, visit Emerson.edu.