by Kellie Mejdrich
Just about everyone who was in Tucson on Jan. 8, 2011, had something to say about the shootings that day that killed six people and wounded 13, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
Michael Fenlason, of Beowulf Alley Theatre Company, decided to write down some of those responses—and the result is the play Word Clouds.
Beowulf Alley will perform its response to the Jan. 8 tragedy again this weekend with its second production of Word Clouds, with music by Tristyn Tucci. Written in the two weeks after the shooting, the play focuses on responses to the shootings in the immediate aftermath.
"We really wanted to time-capsule it," said Fenlason, who also directs the play. "These are really responses right after (it happened). There were a lot of things we didn't know about that came (out later)."
"Ultimately, we're celebrating a fantastic moment where people came together in Tucson in the wake of something awful. People were doing amazing things almost all the time. We don't need a tsunami or shots fired to do amazing things. Maybe we can just do them all the time."
Fenlason also hopes the performance will encourage playgoers to share their own responses with each other.
Ben Hoffman and Nicole Scott in Word Clouds.
Read the entire article here: Re-enacting the Response | Pick of the Week | Tucson Weekly
