Life Is Theatrical Communications

ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence at SBCT

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by

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As a recipient on the South Bend Civic Theatre‘s email list, I found out about this event a week or two before and took advantage of the free ticket on a night I was kid-free. Free theatre? Plays written by teens? As a movement to end gun violence? Having the availability, I couldn’t pass it up.

After opening remarks from Aaron Nichols, the Executive Director of SBCT, the first three of six short plays were presented. Then there was a short intermission, followed by three more short plays. After the applause faded and seats were taken on stage, a gentleman by the name of Michael Cotey joined Nichols on stage for a post-show talk back.

ENOUGH cast at SBCT
Michael Cotey and cast
Loria Perez of SBCT

A few remarks from the cast members (ranging in age from approximately 10-60) and the audience included several topics:

  • toxic masculinity
  • the prevalence of guns in video games
  • social media and what you consume every day

One audience member shared his testimony of living through a troubled childhood and early adulthood, and how his journey through prison and faith finding led him to now support the stance that the real truth is love for one another. Cotey, a Chicago-based artist, is a founder of #EnoughPlays and Nichols asked him to share the final words of the evening.

About ENOUGH!

Founded in 2019 by director Michael Cotey, ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence calls on teens to confront gun violence by creating new works of theatre that spark critical conversations and inspire action in communities nationwide. The initiative promotes playwriting as a tool for self-expression and social change, harnessing this generation’s spirit of activism and giving tomorrow’s playwrights a platform to develop their voices today. Across four program cycles, ENOUGH! has received more than 700 short plays from teen writers. More than 140 organizations have participated in the first three Nationwide Readings (2020, 2022, and 2023) engaging over 14,000 audience members and nearly 3,000 artists. ENOUGH! has been featured by PBS NewsHour, NPR, and BBC, and has earned national recognition, including the 2024 Theatre for Young Audiences/USA Community Impact Award and the 2023 Goldin Foundation Exemplary Project Award.

The ENOUGH! 2025 Plays and SBCT Players

  • Holding Space by Abby Dougherty
  • Presented by: The South Bend Civic Theatre Actors
  • Directed by: Kennedy Bethel
  • Cast: Hannah Lawless, Krystal Gray

Abby Dougherty (Holding Space — she/her, Georgia) is a musician, performer, and playwright from Canton, Georgia. Her work uses humor and rhetoric to offer fresh perspectives on modern issues. She has created pieces with the Alliance Theatre’s Palefsky Collision Project and Teen Ensemble, and began a BFA in Musical Theatre at Brenau University in Fall 2025. Offstage, she enjoys playing piano, exercising, and thrifting.

  • Oh Look, Another School Shooting! by Matias Finley
  • Presented by: The South Bend Civic Youth Company
  • Directed by: Crystal Ryan
  • Cast: Aubrey Parker, Bella Dole, Hattie Milhoan, Julia McKinney, Maggie Jacko, Oliver Pollock, Phia Russell, Titus Badertscher

Matias Finley (Oh Look, Another School Shooting! — he/him, Wisconsin) is an aspiring writer, actor, and musician from Madison, Wisconsin. The son of a Chilean immigrant and a native Wisconsinite, he has been writing stories—superhero comics, fantasy novels, music—since childhood. His love of storytelling deepened through theatre, beginning with Fiddler on the Roof in third grade. Matias aims to use his art to point people toward what is True, Good, and Beautiful. He will graduate from Abundant Life Christian School in 2026 and plans to study theatre and music.

  • Nobody Cares About Death by Ian Hodges
  • Presented by: The South Bend Civic Theatre Actors
  • Directed by: Dr. Dé Byrant and Tiana Mudzimurema
  • Cast: Dr. Dé Byrant, Jeffrey Johnson

Ian Hodges (Nobody Cares About Death — he/him, Florida) is a junior at Martin County High School and a playwright, writer, director, and editor. His work examines political, social, and personal systems and their failures. Ian edits his school’s newspaper, adapts and directs Shakespeare for middle schools, writes satire and surrealist poetry, and competes in Humorous Interpretation in Speech and Debate. After high school, he plans to pursue political science and constitutional law.

  • The Perfect Victim by Payton Aurora Jones
  • Presented by: The Boys and Girls Club at the Portage School of Leaders
  • Directed by: Cedric Pauline
  • Cast: Bobbie Williams, Catori Casporson, Caylee Hawkins, Decarie Hawkins, De’Mar-quez Columbus, Edwin Stum, Ms. Clara, Peyton Reffey, Raelynn Galbreath, Tawana Brown, Tay’len Fennessee

Payton Aurora Jones (The Perfect Victim — she/her, California) is a 19-year-old vocalist, actor, writer, and advocate who merges performance and purpose to spark healing and cultural change. Raised in Southern California by a mother who modeled resilience and grassroots leadership, Payton now leads youth campaigns and performs original music and theatre. A 2025 ENOUGH! winner, she dreams of creating films and productions that show story as a force for justice and Transformation.

  • We Didn’t Have To Meet Here by Pace Rundlett
  • Presented by: Connect 2 Be The Change
  • Directed by: Loria Perez
  • Cast: Antwon Williams Sr., Dakota Go, Davon Scaife, Luna Sweats, Quinn Walker

Pace Rundlett (We Didn’t Have to Meet Here — she/her, Mississippi) is a 16-year-old junior at Clinton High School, where she acts, sings, and writes. After gaining confidence in junior high show choir, she joined the Arrow Players, performing in The Night Witches, CUT, and more, and appears in community theatre as well. Though dyslexia once made her doubt her writing, entering a state competition introduced her to ENOUGH! and ignited a passion for playwriting. Pace is also active in swim, art, a cappella, and Scouts while working toward her Eagle Scout rank.

  • Under Wraps by Olivia Stanley
  • Presented by: The South Bend Civic Theatre Actors
  • Directed by: Loria Perez
  • Cast: Dakota Go, Eden McCormick, Laura Pollock, Oliver Pollock, Nya Brown

Olivia Stanley (Under Wraps — she/her, Texas) is a Dallas-based playwright, writer, actor, and director exploring identity, grief, feminism, and mental health. Her fiction has earned national recognition, including a Scholastic Art and Writing Silver Medal. Olivia’s plays—Bottle Episode, The Nihilist’s BLT, Boy Club, Line of Fire, Open Flame—have been produced across the U.S. and recognized by the Eugene O’Neill and The Blank Theatre festivals. A 2024 graduate of Booker T. Washington High School, she now studies Playwriting and Sociology at Emory University, where she promotes student theatre and serves on the Lenaia Playwriting Festival board.

Prologue and Epilogue by Elizabeth Shannon (ENOUGH! 2020) & Wyn Alyse Thomas (ENOUGH! 2022). Presented by the cast of ENOUGH!

Learn more about South Bend Civic Theatre

Learn more about ENOUGH!

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