Difficult topics in the spotlight

When the lights come up at start of the Kenai Performers next production, viewers will face a disturbingly familiar scene: teens telling the story of an ordinary school day interrupted by a classmate with a gun.

That’s only the first of five shows that make up a compilation production called “The Bullying Collection” and “Girl in the Mirror,” which runs this weekend and next in the Kenai Performers Theater on Kalifornsky Beach Road.

“The Bullying Collection” is a set of 10 plays that each run roughly 10 minutes. The Kenai Performers will be putting on four of them in a sequence directed by Jen Brighton. Those are “I Was There” by Sam Guzman; “Gray Area” by Ian McWethy; “Say Nothing” by C.R. Wright; and “Frosh in the Pit” by Alan Haehnel.

“I Was There” tackles gun violence in schools. “Gray Area” depicts issues of social media and cyberbullying. “Say Nothing” is a look at suicide and peer pressure, and “Frosh in the Pit” tackles social dynamics and hazing.

“Girl in the Mirror,” written by Bruce Jacoby and directed by Terri Zopf-Schoessler, is relatively longer. It’s a one-act play about a young woman who’s attempted suicide.

Brighton said Monday that while she was directing a teen-led comedy show in the spring, some of her actors said they were interested in doing something more serious. “The Bullying Collection” appealed both because of the number of teen roles and because of the important conversations it opened.

Art, she said, should tell the truth.

“We’re dealing with violence, school shootings, a parent with addiction, suicidal ideation, the experience of having a loved one complete suicide,” she said. “These young people are experiencing all of these things. Every teenager I know has been in active shooter drills.”

Brighton said her own child, when only an second grader, was asked to be a “special helper” who knows the proposed escape route in a scenario where something had happened to his teacher. At 8 years old, she said, he was made to grapple with the cold implications of that responsibility — and he said he wanted to help.

“Our kids are handling that at 8,” she said. “This is the world we’re raising our kids in. The least we can do is let them tell their story.”

Through the show, Brighton said, the performers are using storytelling to remind themselves and their audience that they’re not alone.

Zopf-Schoessler said that, as a teacher, she knows these problems are real. She said that taking training for suicide prevention through the school district left her feeling “powerless,” looking for a way to address “a far greater problem than people know.”

The Kenai Performers collaborated with Central Peninsula Hospital and the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Sources of Strength program to compile resources to share during the run of the show, and a professional will be in attendance each night to answer questions about its content.

That community response and collaboration, Zopf-Schoessler said, was a blessing. She said they’ve gathered a breadth of valuable resources, including some she didn’t know about before taking on the project — like 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

“I’ve been so incredibly blown away by the generosity of people, when talking about very difficult topics,” she said.

The issues of gun violence, bullying, social isolation and mental illness aren’t uncommon. These are ideas local youth contend with. Brighton said that, statistically, everyone knows someone who’s experienced suicidal ideation.

Performing through those heavy topics can be challenging creatively and mentally. Brighton said they’ve worked hard to create a supportive environment where there is often laughter backstage.

Zopf-Schoessler said that many of the more taxing roles were given to adults with strong support systems who could bear that burden. Among them are Andrew Gunter, who plays both the shooter in the first sequence of the show and later a student grieving the suicide of his best friend, and Kassándra Feltman, who plays the lead in “Girl in the Mirror.”

Gunter said that playing Aaron, the shooter, has been among the most difficult and even frustrating tasks he’s undertaken as an actor. There’s no direct connection to mine to get there. Relatively, he said, finding the grief inherent in his other role has come easy. Both, though, are demanding roles.

“It’s difficult subject matter,” Gunter said. “It’s rough, but you get through it and hopefully you grow as a person. You’re definitely going to grow as an actor.”

The work is rewarding, he said, because it helps people to engage with those difficult topics and increase awareness of real issues.

Feltman said she’s more familiar playing children and making people laugh, in stark contrast to her role as Susan, a young woman who by the start of “Girl in the Mirror” has already attempted suicide.

But she credited Zopf-Schoessler, Brighton, and producer Donna Shirnberg with creating a safe and comfortable space for the actors to explore their roles in the show and its content.

Feltman said that in playing Susan she’s engaging with the headspace of a depressed and lonely teen. That space isn’t unfamiliar, she said, and it’s challenging to willingly engage with that to understand what Susan is going through.

“I’ve been trying to keep my head up high and play this character while not letting the character play me,” she said. “I’m very lucky, and all these people here in this production are very lucky, to have this community that we have who is willing to bring awareness to these things. Ignoring them isn’t going to help anyone.”

Feltman said, echoing her directors and producer, that if one person engages with the show and realizes that they aren’t alone, the whole endeavor will have been worth it.

People struggling with loneliness and depression, she said, who are perhaps in such a dark place that they might think that suicide is the best thing to do, need to receive help from without themselves. Art can provide a different lens to engage with these issues and can help someone open their eyes, Feltman said.

“I think that’s really powerful.”

Other actors in the show agreed. Spring Sibayan, who plays a bully and a boyfriend in different parts of the show, said some of the issues at hand are “near and dear to my heart.” Bullying and suicide are real, he said, and something that people grapple with in this community.

Todd Sherwood, who plays alongside Feltman’s Susan for much of “Girl in the Mirror,” said that the show is more centered on driving education and awareness than other productions, even those that similarly engage with sensitive conversations. Like Feltman, Sherwood said that the show uses the medium of theater and storytelling to impart information — though he said he’s glad that health professionals are attending to help audience members unpack because the performers don’t have that real training.

Stories, unlike lessons or lectures, can impart information in a different way and help people think through complex ideas, Sherwood said.

Though Zopf-Schoessler agreed that the show is “not really entertainment,” the performances on display are richly realized and fueled by the genuine bonds between cast members.

“If there is a family that comes, and they talk about this in the car on the way home, I’ve done my job,” she said. “I just want people to start to talk about it.”

The series runs two weekends, Sept. 12-15 and Sept. 19-22, with 7 p.m. showings on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and a matinee 2 p.m. showing on Sundays. Tickets are $20, with Thursday showings discounted to $10. The show is described as PG-13, and the performers said much of the show is directed toward teenagers and anyone who cares for teenagers.

For more information or to purchase tickets, find “Kenai Performers” on Facebook or visit kenaiperformers.org.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.