Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Eastern: 6pm
Central: 5pm
Mountain: 4pm
Pacific: 3pm

The Dramatists Guild in collaboration with #ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence  and support from the Sandy Hook Promise will offer a two-hour healing work session on Wednesday, June 8 from 6pm – 8pm EDT. During this time, participants will be invited to come together and work together in silent community towards creating something new in response to recent events, or choose to use that time to work on an advocacy initiative of their choice.

At 6pm, #ENOUGH Artistic Producer Michael Cotey will introduce the context for this healing session with a few opening words, along with Jordan Stovall, Director of Outreach & Institutional Partnerships for the Dramatists Guild.

Following the brief introduction, participants are invited to use that two-hour period in silent community to work on any of the following suggestions:

• Private journaling, poetry, or writing as a method of healing or processing;
• Creating a new piece of dramatic writing in response to recent events such as a monologue or ten-minute play;
• Writing a letter to your elected officials;
• Forming an action plan for advocacy within your own community;
• Crafting and/or working on a 60-second message for the #DearLawmakers campaign;
• Educate yourself on resources such as Sandy Hook Promise and how to get more involved/sign up to volunteer;
• Learn and plan on how to bring the Know the Signs program to your schools or community;
• Plan or share a Sandy Hook Promise "Say Something" Poetry Slam with your family, community, local school, and get inspired by previous "Say Something" Week Award Winners;
• Learn more about or plan to bring the SAVE Promise Club to a local school near you;
• Find a local chapter of March for Your Lives on June 11, plan to take part, and/or use this two-hour period for sign-making;
• Any other creative or practical outlet that might be useful for you!

We will conclude following the silent work session in the final 15 minutes with a brief sharing and summary of some of the work done during that time, share potential next steps, and things to consider at the conclusion of the meeting.

In anticipation of the event, #ENOUGH makes the following statement:

"This is a critical moment where we need 1 million megaphones, not just one, saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.  Youth. Adults. Writers. Non-writers. Parents. Teachers. Survivors. Responsible gun owners especially. We need everybody’s voice. Prose. Poetry. Eloquent. Messy. A monologue. A testimonial. A prayer. Ask yourself: What do you need your lawmakers to hear, to know, to feel? What do you need them to DO?

If you’d like to use the time to take part in the #DearLawmakers campaign, here’s what we need you to do:

• WRITE a message 60 seconds or less starting with “Dear Lawmakers;”
• RECORD yourself or someone else delivering your message;
• SHARE your message on social media and TAG with #dearlawmakers and tag the elected officials you want to see it;
•  And then TAG at least 2 OTHERS to join you in raising your voice! "

We hope you'll join us.

#ENOUGH: Plays to End Gun Violence calls on teens to confront gun violence by creating new works of theatre that will spark critical conversations and inspire meaningful action in communities across the country. Our mission is to promote playwriting as a tool for self-expression and social change, harnessing this generation's spirit of activism and providing a platform for America's playwrights of tomorrow to discover and develop their voices today.