The play investigates 'what it is about guns that makes them so appealing to vulnerable young men.'
"When I read the script initially, what really stuck out to me was the idea that boys and younger men try to live up to the ideals of masculinity that they see in the media or in their families at home," Poling says."The boys inare constantly attempting to dominate or outdo one another; adding a weapon to that dynamic causes tension and changes the balance of power in the room.
The play's action takes place primarily in an alleyway behind Jeremiah and Mitchell's apartment. "There are a couple of scenes that take place in different locations, which we will indicate with [technical elements], but the concept is that these boys are in an alley that has become their hangout and safe space," Poling says."In terms of design, it's going to be a sort of knocked-down alley.
This allows Poling and her cast to focus on the characters' psychology and investigate whether engaging in violent conflict is a natural response or something that society teaches men. Canaday sprinkled the script with instances of magical realism in order to humanize the characters. "There are moments that show these boys' toxic masculinity and desire to dominate, but each character is much more complex than that," she says."With Jeremiah, who goes on this whole arc because of a gun, I wanted him to show that he had a relationship with these birds, like pigeons, sparrows and crows, that we normally shoo away, and show that he cared for these birds that are kind of outcasts. I included these moments of magical realism as a way to humanize the characters. .
It was important to the creative team that the young men weren't rendered into cartoonish caricatures. Poling says she worked with the cast on"when the audience gets to see each character's real self and when we get to see them taking on what they've seen from their dad or in movies. It's been kind of fun to play around with when their machismo comes into play and they put on that energy with each other.
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