Tommy Wooten directed the play “Commencement,” shedding light on the affects of bullying, at the Ansonia Theatre from Sept. 15-17.

“Commencement” was written by Clay McLeod Chapman. The play includes three women, whose lives interconnect because of the homicide-turned-suicide at Midlothian High school.

Sarah Havermeyer, the mother of Mitchell, begins the play by speaking of the childhood of her son, weaving in present moments and items such as coloring books, crayons and puzzles. She is saddened and enraged that she is separated from all of the other grieving parents — because Mitchell was the shooter.

Sarah talks of how, although her son did the shooting, the other children were not innocent. Mitchell would come home with bruises, blackened eyes, and even more injuries, from being bullied by the other children at the school. She even spoke of Mitchell swallowing marbles, because a boy promised that he would be his friend afterwards.

Sarah knows that once this story comes out, parents of the victims will say that Mitchell took their children away. She goes on to say, “But what none of these parents are willing to admit is that their sons and daughters took my child away from me long before today.”

Gina Clark, who has several Ansonia Theatre credits, plays the role of Sarah. Clark said that the whole story has completely changed her outlook on school shootings.

“I’m playing the mom of the kid who did it,” Clark said. “Anytime we’ve watched these things unfold on television, you want to find somebody to blame and you want to find somebody to point a finger at, and the easiest target is the person that raised them (the shooter).”

Clark said that though it is easy to blame the parent, she “realized that these are just typical parents that did the best she could to raise her child.”

Clark goes on to say, “Bad things happened to him at school. People bullied him every single day and she couldn’t control that.”

Clark said that she and her husband were talking about the play, and about how it would affect each group of people, including teachers. She said that the play could open their eyes and allow them to know which child they should be paying attention to and asking them what they can do to help them.

“For the one who is bullying, the play would kind of have it in their face,” Clark said. ‘What you say, the words that you say are heavy, and they affect people. They (the victim of bullying) will not know how the play has affected them until much later, when they realize how their bully treats them different as a result of this play, and it will have a greater impact.”

Part II of the play depicts Julie Keady, a 17-year-old girl at Midlothian High, a volunteer at the school library and an indirect friend to Mitchell. Julie is a smart girl, who can tell you which book each student checked out of the library without needing a computer. This is where she comes in contact with Mitchell.

Julie speaks of finding Mitchell’s notes in the margins of the books, and getting the idea to write to him through the books. This began the indirect frienship of her and Mitchell. They write to each other up until the spring, when Julie begins to work on her commencement speech.

Julie mentions that during the last moment of her life, Mitchell did not know who she was. In the last book that Mitchell checked out, she found the words, “Where’d you go?”

Savannah Tarlton, a 16-year-old junior at Anson High School, plays the role of Julie Keady.

Tarlton said that what’s really important about this story is that people will feel bad for every single person. She also said that playing the role of somebody who sees somebody who might be going through something, reaching out to them, showed her that you can stop it.

Tarlton said that even though her character didn’t really stop what happened, it showed her the possibility.

“When I go to school every day now, thinking about this show and being in this show, I try to talk to more people than I normally do,” Tarlton said. “I include people that aren’t really included in things, to sort of bring them into my friend group, and make sure everybody has somebody to talk to and do things with at school.”

The final part of the play features Mary Keady, mother to Julie, who is trying to understand why her child was not allowed to graduate. Mary could not understand why Sarah did not attend any of the memorials to pay her respects to the children her son murdered.

Mary goes over to Sarah’s house, and makes her read Julie’s commencement speech. As she reads, Julie’s voice takes over, and Mary gets what she wanted. Julie’s speech is heard, because it deserves to be heard.

Terra Medlock, a Marshville native with Anson County roots, plays the role of Mary Keady. She said that it brings the golden rule back to remembrance, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you; treat people with the respect that you would want to be treated with.

“You never know what kind of day somebody is having or what kind of grief they are going through,” Medlock said. “We need to have more compassion for others, so that we are not that trigger that sends somebody over the edge. We might be that trigger that brings them back.”

Wooten spoke of his high school experience, and how as a freshman, he had a hard time fitting in.

“I remember this older girl reached out to me, befriended me, and it changed my whole high school experience,” Wooten said. “Other people opened up to me that normally would not have. It just takes one person to make a difference like this. Hopefully, that’s what people will take away from this play.”

Courtesy image A poster for the play “Commencement” features the three characters whose lives are intertwined in a school shooting.
https://ansonrecord.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/web1_commencement.jpgCourtesy image A poster for the play “Commencement” features the three characters whose lives are intertwined in a school shooting.
Actresses gain new perspective through roles

By Natalie Davis

ndavis@s24519.p831.sites.pressdns.com