’Gunplay’ looks at US relationship with guns

Emerson College will stage a reading of Gunplay, a play by Frank Higgins that explores the complexity of America’s relationship with guns, on Monday, November 3, at 6:30 pm.

The performance, directed by Benny Sato Ambush, senior distinguished producer-in-residence in Performing Arts, includes a multicultural, interracial cast of Emerson students, alumni, faculty actors, and professional actors from the Boston region.

Following the reading, Ambush will lead an audience discussion.

The event is free and open to the public and takes place in the Greene Theater, on the 6th floor of the Tufte Performance and Production Center, 10 Boylston Place. Seating is first come, first served.

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.

“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,” Ambush said. “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, and Jeffrey Song; Performing Arts faculty members Christina Marin and Craig Mathers; Performing Arts students Julian Aldana-Tejada ’17, Rachel Brunner ’16, Jordan Matayoshi ’15, Maria Alessandra Esparza ’16, Michael Kelly ’15, and Nyla Wissa ’15; and alumnus Marc Pierre ’13.