Event

American Roulette

Theater Artists Olympia is pleased to be joining forces with Animal Fire Theatre to produce "American Roulette", an original play written by Christopher Evans and Fredric Hendricks. Directed by Animal Fire Theatre's Brian Hatcher, the play explores the affects of a high school shooting on a number of individuals, a community, and it's ripples of effect on humanity.

Written pre-Columbine and updated to include a modern perspective, "American Roulette" does not attempt to give any answers to the "whys" for such events, but works instead to establish a personal perspective as to "how" an event like this affects us all. The play presents a variety of characters ranging in age and background and is acted by local actors including several local high school students.

Hatcher, a cast member of the original production, which took place on the campus of the University of Montana in April of 1999 and coincidentally, closed 10 days before the shootings at Columbine, also graduated from Columbine High School, class of 1988. Along with his creativity and theatrical knowledge, Hatcher applies his experience of being a member of a community devastated by tragedy to this very real and emotionally truthful production, which speaks to the horrifying trend of gun violence in our country's schools.

Theater Artists Olympia is an artists collective and long-established non-profit that promotes under-represented theater pieces and "untamed theater". Animal Fire Theatre was established in 2009 and mostly focuses on outdoor Shakespeare productions. This partnership represents TAO's commitment to presenting impactful theater to the Olympia community and AFT's resolve to tell meaningful and complex stories to modern audiences.

Please join us on November 7th through November 24th at the Capital Playhouse Theater. Please note that this production may not be right for very young audience members and does contain gun violence. Talk backs will be held after all performances.