Bang, Bang, You’re Dead by William Mastrosimone

ISBN: 1158253303
Books LLC as well as available for download by Icarus Plays (1998, revised in 2009)
http://www.icarusplays.com/preview-plays/bbyd/read-play
71 p.

Reading Level: Grade 9 and up.

Summary:

This play shows the aftermath of what Josh has done after he has killed his parents and five of his classmates. He is surrounded by the ghosts of his classmates, which are really figments of his imagination, who not only command Josh to tell them why he killed them, but to let him know the many things in life they will miss. As Josh constantly deflects and tries to ignore them, as well as the flashbacks of scenes with his parents, “they become akin to a chorus of Greek Furies who torment him, make him re-live events, and drive him towards the threshold of remorse.”  (Retrieved from http://www.icarusplays.com/preview-plays/bbyd). The magnitude of his actions slowly hits Josh as he must come to terms with what he has done. There is no way to turn back time in order not to murder his parents and classmates, and there is little hope that redemption will find him either.

Critical Evaluation:

This play is from the point of view of Josh, the teen who has killed his parents and some of his classmates. The audience watches as Josh deals with his depression, his simmering anger at himself as he shouts at his ghosts, and the reasons—or the lack thereof—for what he has done. The ghosts set the tone of the play, which is somber and tragic, by telling Josh all the times in life he stole from them and all the people affected by their deaths. Josh’s first brush with death in killing the buck is when he first wants to take a murder back, but he can’t unkill it, much as he can’t take back the murders he has committed, serving as both a flashback and, within the flashback, a foreshadowing of the tragedy that awaits him. Josh is also the “blackboard phantom” who writes a warning on the blackboard for the students and tells Emily that it “must be somebody whose switch got flicked once too often.” (p. 41). He shares his thoughts about how a “word is a needle, a look is broken glass. A laugh—oh, especially a laugh—is a razor.” (p. 42) to which the ghosts reply, “So you make your face a mask/A mask that hides your face/A face that hides your pain/A pain that eats your heart/A heart nobody knows.” (p. 42). The lyrical style in which the ghosts speak gives the play a continual current of the mental spiral Josh is going through, as well as a voice to all the victims who have died in a school shooting and what they could say, if given a chance.

Reader’s Annotation:

“I didn’t know it would be like this. CONTROL ALT DELETE” (P. 26).

Author Biography:

William Mastrosimone is from Trenton, New Jersey, and is a graduate of the Mason Gross School of the Arts, a part of Rutgers University, for playwriting. Mastrosimone has written numerous plays and screenplays, including Into the West, which was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy, and the adaptation of his play, Extremities. He’s also won a Daytime Emmy Award for Bang, Bang You’re Dead.

This play was based on Kip Kinkle a 15 year-old who, in 1998, shot his parents and then, after two days alone with them in their house, went to school and killed two of his peers and wounded 25  others. Also, the author’s child told him of a classmate who wrote a threat of violence toward his classmates and teacher on the blackboard.

Genre: Play - Realistic Fiction

Curriculum Ties:

This was a play written for high-school teens. Although there is violence, the play is about reaching out to those in pain to show them that murder can’t be taken back and there are so many reasons to stop, think, and ask for help. This also shows that when a fantasy of violence becomes a reality, there is no turning back or turning off as in a book, movie or video game.

Booktalking Ideas:

-What are some of the warning signs that someone may become
volatile and dangerous?

-How can one help make schools safer? Do anti-bullying laws help?

-Why does Josh use sarcasm to deflect his ghosts and his emotions?

Read-Alikes/View-Alikes:

Films:

- Bang, Bang You’re Dead, a film by Guy Ferland.

- Elephant, a film by Gus Van Sant.

- Homeroom, a film by Paul F. Ryan.

Books/Play:

- Columbinus, a play by Stephen Karam and P.J. Paparelli.

- Hate List by Jennifer Brown.

- Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.

- Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser.

Challenge Issue:

Many who have not read the play believe that it glorifies violence, but this could not be further from the truth. This is a play about consequences and how any act of horror cannot be taken back. This play was immediately endorsed and sponsored by the Ribbon of Promise, whose members are dedicated to nonviolence in schools.

Reason to include in blog:

I was originally going to include the film Bang, Bang You’re Dead in this blog, but then I re-watched Homeroom and decided to include that instead. I then realized that the play utilized within the film, Bang, Bang You’re Dead, was a real play, and I decided to use that on this blog instead. Both the play and the film are haunting and should be included in any high-school curriculum that hopes to battle bullying.

References:

Hempel, J. (2002). Ribbon of Promise volunteer campaign spreads the message about

preventing school violence. Retrieved from http://www.rwjf.org/reports/grr/035695.htm

Icarus Plays. (2010). Bang, Bang, You’re Dead Synopsis. Retrieved from

http://www.icarusplays.com/preview-plays/bbyd

Mastrosimone, W. (2009). Bang, Bang You're Dead. Icarus Plays.
     Retrieved from http://www.icarusplays.com/preview-plays/bbyd/read-play

William Mastrosimone. (2010). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Mastrosimone

Witham, B. (2002). The voices of Bang, Bang You’re Dead. Theatre History Studies, 22,

83-93.