Theater Simple to Stage GUN CONTROL THEATRE ACTION Readings, 5/2

Seattle's theater simple, in collaboration with No Passport, stages Gun Control Theatre Action an evening of selected readings from 24 Gun Control Plays, performed at West of Lenin on May 2^nd at 7:30pm. This free event features new work by playwrights Neil LaBute (reasons to be pretty), Jennifer Maisel (The Last Seder), Oliver Mayer (Blade to the Heat), Winter Miller (In Darfur), Gary Winter (13p), Caridad Svich (The House of the Spirits) and more.

In January 2013 NoPassport Theatre invited dramatists, storytellers and poets to submit short works in response to their personal thoughts on gun control. The result was a collection of plays titled 24 Gun Control Plays. The collection will be released in New York City at New Dramatists on April 29. Three days later the event moves west to Seattle where 12 plays from the collection will be performed in a reading at West of Lenin.

theater simple co-founder Llysa Holland states "in light of the Senate's decision not to strengthen gun control laws, it is imperative that as citizens and artists we raise our voices in protest. The conversation must continue, and this collaboration can foster myriad opportunities."

The tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut prefigured by gun-related tragedies sustained in Aurora, Colorado may be viewed as tragic, isolated incidents, but it is important to consider how stricter gun control laws may have prevented their occurrence. How do we as a nation in the US reconcile incidents of senseless violence against our citizens, be they young or old? Since the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007 and the massacre at Columbine High School in 1999, national discussion in the arts and media, and halls of law and governance has turned toward coping with increased violence in our society and "easy" access to guns. Calls for gun control arise in our culture every time devastating tragedies of this nature occur. Fourteen years after the Columbine massacre, we still ask ourselves what to do?

The Seattle action is produced by theater simple and directed by Rob West. The readings feature theater simple founders Llysa Holland and Andrew Litzky as well as actors Mark Fullerton, Joe McCarthy and Nikki Visel and award winning spoken word artist Jodie Knowles.

The Gun Control Theatre Action: A reading of 12 selections from 24 Gun Control Plays is set for Thursday, May 2, 7:30 pm at West of Lenin, 203 N. 36^th Street, Seattle, WA. Donation at the door.

Cast: Mark Fullerton, Llysa Holland, Jodie Knowles, Andrew Lytzky, Joe McCarthy, Nikki Visel

Production Team: Director Rob West, Producer theater simple

A Seattle-based, peripatetic small theatrical company that has created and produced over 43 shows 4 countries on 3 continents, in a variety of genres. www.theatersimple.org.