{"id":20170823,"date":"2023-09-13T11:57:43","date_gmt":"2023-09-13T18:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/?p=20170823"},"modified":"2023-09-13T11:57:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-13T18:57:45","slug":"toxic-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metrosiliconvalley.com\/toxic-shock\/","title":{"rendered":"Toxic Shock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five years after a mass shooting at their high school, the survivors gather for the first time and share their trauma, grief and anger with each other. This is the premise of Toxic<\/em>, a new play by playwright Kit Wilder premiering at City Lights Theater Company this Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The play, Wilder says, is \u201cabout the shocking and tragic lack of civility in our public discourse. We\u2019ve lost the capacity to talk to each other.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In staging it, he hopes to encourage people to talk about difficult topics\u2014like gun violence in the U.S. Though there is an abundance of news coverage of the subject, Wilder says the play seeks to add to public discourse in a meaningful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheater brings to life things that, often, we have become used to, or hardened to, or numbed to,\u201d Wilder says. \u201cYou can go to the theater and suddenly be awakened to something you have not thought of, or not felt, for years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sitting in one of the rooms where the shooting occurred five years previously, 11 survivors gather for the first time since another student at their private high school opened fire. The violence left several dead, including a beloved teacher. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of the characters holds trauma from that horrific day, shared in some ways but also unique. Only through speaking with each other and sharing those wounds are they able to move \u201cfrom solitary anger to communal grief,\u201d according to the play\u2019s description.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the first time they get together and debrief and talk about their experience,\u201d Wilder says. \u201cHow they feel and how they can possibly move on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilder does not shy away from the fact that the production will delve into difficult material. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s descriptions of horrific violence in the piece,\u201d he says. However, he believes it is important for this subject to be discussed on stage. \u201cThe play is about what we\u2019re going through right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the heart is the issue of gun violence in the U.S. and how \u201ccertain trends in our national discourse [are] toxic,\u201d Wilder says, revealing the source of the play\u2019s name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the performance, the production\u2019s creators will have an \u201constage gathering with the audience,\u201d he adds, an opportunity for the audience to stay and talk about what they\u2019ve seen, if they\u2019d like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea for the piece came from students at Shenandoah University in Virginia, where Wilder teaches. He was asked to write a play for the graduating class of 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey were really, really keen on doing something about gun violence. And so I took that as my cue,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was, in a sense, merely the germ of what Toxic<\/em> has become. But that\u2019s how it started.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People murdered 20,958 people with guns nationwide in 2021. This accounts for 81 percent of all murders in the country. That same year, there were 61 FBI-defined \u201cactive shooter incidents\u201d\u2014more than one a week\u2014according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>. In 2022, the nonprofit group Gun Violence Archive counted nearly 650 mass shootings in America<\/a>. Already, in 2023, there have been over 400.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilder says he\u2019s pissed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe issues that we\u2019re facing today are tragic and shameful. I\u2019m embarrassed sometimes to be an American.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Art, however, presents a rare opportunity to raise these difficult issues outside the gridlock of national politics. Instead of pretending to have the answers to a problem that can often feel intractable, he hopes to start a conversation through the experience of theater and inspire people to connect with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTheater is a communal event. You sit and you go through the same experience with, at City Lights, you know, a hundred other people at the same time,\u201d he says. \u201cThere is no substitute for that, in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that it\u2019s ready for opening, Wilder is excited to see his production come to life. It\u2019s his fourth at City Lights, and for the first time he wasn\u2019t directly involved in the production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be interesting to actually sit there,\u201d he says. \u201cUsually I sort of wander the halls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toxic<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opens Thu, 8pm $28+<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Oct 15<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City Lights, San Jose<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group of survivors reconnect following tragedy in City Lights\u2019 \u2018Toxic\u2019, a play about America\u2019s massive mass shooting problem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14825,"featured_media":20170831,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_expiration-date-status":"","_expiration-date":0,"_expiration-date-type":"","_expiration-date-categories":[],"_expiration-date-options":[]},"categories":[7979],"tags":[9623,5274,537,167],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n