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A
Line in the Sand Group: Gemini Productions in association with Fringe Management |
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Dave Clements | |
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On April 20 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot dead 12 classmates and a teacher, before turning their guns on themselves. This one-woman piece, written and performed by Adina Taubman, presents an astonishing insight, a snapshot, into the contemporary American psyche. It is all the more astonishing because it is unmediated - essentially a collage of interviews with victims' parents, fellow students, the local pastor, police officers, etc - in its portrayal of what is an extraordinary and tragic event. 'That was a really bad day' is a characteristic understatement from a student friend. Columbine High School is situated in Littleton, Colorado - 'a postcard town', where children get bored. Eric and Dylan became known as the trenchcoat killers. Dylan was a 'good listener', they were both shy and ridiculed for their 'dorkiness'. One of their victims didn't run, thinking they were firing paintballs. Another theme is the dark heart of the American family. How is it that the parents didn't know the kids had a bedroom full of arms and ammunition? This rare event spoke to the anxieties of a nation. What do those kids get up to in their rooms? The local gun dealer is insightful - violence is in the heart, guns don't have morals. The good guys don't win any more. He's thinking of the lone ranger. The videogames get blamed - that's why they stopped after 20 minutes, it was 'game over' - but, 'boy, that's one hell of a leap'. A friend talks of a victim's open casket at the funeral - 'her outfit was hideous'. The incongruity of such a comment is chilling, and it impresses on you that these were just kids. A failure of authority and mission - in the schools, 'I couldn't tell the teachers from the kids' and the state, 'they want a law if you wanna go pee' - pervades. Where is the leadership, they ask? In the aftermath, a teacher refers to the 'dirty laundry'. A survivor becomes a minor celebrity, kids ask for his autograph. The media scramble for their stories. 'They'll make a movie about us. Tarantino or Spielberg.' 1
August to 25 August.
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