the Tragedy Project
For the tragedy project, we learned how tragedies affect our society today. We began the project with reading two Greek tragedies and then using the structure and ideas from those to develop our own play that reflected our personal view on a social issue of our choice. We then worked with a partner to make a play and show the moral dilemma of our chosen social issue in our perspective.
Script
Aim Wisely
Prologue
(Ashley hears her son Max cry out in hunger, she rolled out of bed to see a picture mounted on her nightstand of her dearly loved husband who recently died of bone cancer, that he’d been fighting for over a year.)
Ashley: Oh do I miss having you around. I miss your touch and your voice. I miss you every day, it’s not easy without you here. It’s not easy knowing you’ll never come back. I will never get to hug you when I am down or hear that laugh that makes me smile with joy.
Lizzy: (Max cried even louder) MOM! Max is crying! He is hungry!
Ashley: (Sets the picture of Toby back on the nightstand table) I love you. Coming Lizzy! (Gets out of bed)
Lizzy: (Moody tone) Mommy are you going to eat dinner with us tonight? You said you would!
Ashley: (With pain in her voice) I don’t think I’ll be able to eat dinner with you two tonight. I will be working late.
Lizzy: (With a smile on her face) Well then can we you take me to the park?
Ashley: (Thinking about the how big the kids how happy they were last time she took them to the park) Yes of course, once you finish eating breakfast go get dressed, okay?
(Both Lizzy and Max get dressed for the park)
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
She’s lost a lot
Her one true love
She couldn't bear the thought.
Sorrow, defeat and bleak,
These feelings, she was tired of.
She felt ever so weak
and so distraught.
All she felt was pain, so to speak.
Scene one
(The family of three is now at the park, it is mid-morning)
Ashley: (notices the joy in her daughters eyes) Kids please be careful, don’t get hurt.
(Ashley recognized a woman approaching her from behind)
Jess: (With excitement in her voice) Are you Ashley Parker? You don’t personally know me but I do know you’re the women who fought hard to keep our gun rights here in Washington, DC.
Ashley: Yes that was me. (Holding back) I believe strongly in the Second Amendment and what my rights consist of for that particular Amendment.
Jess: I also agree that we should be able to keep our rights to protect ourselves and others in. Washington D.C
Ashley: (Gains interest in this lady) Do you mind if I ask your name?
Jess: Jess. Jess White.
Ashley: Jess. I spent so much time and I put so much effort into protesting for my rights. (Voice becomes raspy) What did I get? Nothing. As a U.S. citizen I deserve the right to bear arms and I deserve the right protect myself from the government and the criminals.
Jess: (Concerned) I too agree, gun control should not have been enforced so greatly here in Washington DC.
Ashley: (Makes sure her kids are being safe and are together on the playground) It’s displeasing to come from a place like Dallas, Texas where it is accepted to posses a firearm. To open or close carry a firearm to reinforce the fact that I am safe. It’s awful to come to a place like Washington D.C. where I lose almost all of those rights! (Jess nodding in agreement) I tried my hardest to help the greater good. I hung up flyers, I wrote emails and letters, I even gave speeches. I barely have extra time for my children, I’m working three jobs just to pay the rent and supply food for my family. (Takes a deep breath) As a citizen I do not want to lose my rights, especially one important to me and will protect myself and my family.
Jess: You tried as hard as you could, and I thank you for that! Your dedication is something I strive for.
Ashley: It’s time to go it’s getting cold and we need to get home so mom can go to work.
Jess: It was a pleasure meeting you!
(Shake hands, Jess walks away.)
(Kids run up to Ashley)
Max: Hi Mommy!
(All hold hands)
Max: Alright let’s go! 3, 2, 1.
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
What is the reason?
You think our government is helping the citizens?
What they’re doing is not pleasing.
The right has been written.
I have the right to bear arms.
A sickening feeling has risen.
What you’ve done only harms
When I lose my right to bear arms.
Scene two
(Ashley is walking to work the time is currently 11 o’clock at night)
Ashley: (Shivering) Gee it sure is cold out tonight! I can not belive how atrocious this year has been, and now I have to work multiple jobs that take the spot of my children
(Ashley thinks she hears footsteps behind her, she looks around but all she can see is the street lights behind her shining down on the lonely sidewalk behind her, she feels some relief, but still has a bad feeling in her stomach.)
Ashley: Hello? Is anybody there? (stuttering) He-hel-hello? Hello?
(She continues walking still in suspicion when suddenly someone comes up behind her and she feels a throbbing pain in her head and finds herself on the ground with blood rushing out of the side of her head.)
Jaykob: Give me your money! NOW!
Ashley: (High pitched scream) Ahhhh! Stop! Stop! I don’t have anything, I swear!
(He brings his hand with the metal rod up and thrashes it down on her with great ferocity)
(Man pulls her up from where she was laying in pain. Ashley falls to the ground and reaches with the only energy she has left for her belt (where she normally keeps her handgun) and realizes there’s nothing but her belt)
Ashley: Damn, I don't have my gun.
(Hits her another three times across the back of her head)
(Suddenly everything goes black and there is the noise of a phone ringing in the background with Lizzy sitting and coloring at a table)
Lizzy: Hello?
Person from Ashleys Work: (Clears throat) Is this the house of Ashley Parker?
Lizzy: Yeah this is, who is this?(with wonder in her voice)
Person from Ashleys Work: I was wondering why Ashley didn’t show up for work today?
Lizzy: She left like two hours ago.
Person from Ashleys Work: Her shift started about forty five minutes ago and she is still not here.
(Lizzy doesn’t respond, she sits there blankly)
Person from Ashleys Work: You know what have a nice night.
(Phone calls end)
(Lizzy calls her mom’s phone)
(Doesn’t answer, goes to voicemail)
Lizzy: Hi Mommy, I can’t wait to see you in the morning. I love you.
(Scene ends with Jaykob standing over Ashley’s dead body breathing hard with a police car pulling up behind him and the siren in the background,
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
You think guns kill?
It’s those behind the gun.
It is up to the person behind the gun and their will.
The chance for self defense is now next to none.
Banning guns won’t stop the criminals,
it’ll only add to the thrill.
So when you ban the gun,
what’s that going to do for the greater good?
Aim Wisely
Prologue
(Ashley hears her son Max cry out in hunger, she rolled out of bed to see a picture mounted on her nightstand of her dearly loved husband who recently died of bone cancer, that he’d been fighting for over a year.)
Ashley: Oh do I miss having you around. I miss your touch and your voice. I miss you every day, it’s not easy without you here. It’s not easy knowing you’ll never come back. I will never get to hug you when I am down or hear that laugh that makes me smile with joy.
Lizzy: (Max cried even louder) MOM! Max is crying! He is hungry!
Ashley: (Sets the picture of Toby back on the nightstand table) I love you. Coming Lizzy! (Gets out of bed)
Lizzy: (Moody tone) Mommy are you going to eat dinner with us tonight? You said you would!
Ashley: (With pain in her voice) I don’t think I’ll be able to eat dinner with you two tonight. I will be working late.
Lizzy: (With a smile on her face) Well then can we you take me to the park?
Ashley: (Thinking about the how big the kids how happy they were last time she took them to the park) Yes of course, once you finish eating breakfast go get dressed, okay?
(Both Lizzy and Max get dressed for the park)
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
She’s lost a lot
Her one true love
She couldn't bear the thought.
Sorrow, defeat and bleak,
These feelings, she was tired of.
She felt ever so weak
and so distraught.
All she felt was pain, so to speak.
Scene one
(The family of three is now at the park, it is mid-morning)
Ashley: (notices the joy in her daughters eyes) Kids please be careful, don’t get hurt.
(Ashley recognized a woman approaching her from behind)
Jess: (With excitement in her voice) Are you Ashley Parker? You don’t personally know me but I do know you’re the women who fought hard to keep our gun rights here in Washington, DC.
Ashley: Yes that was me. (Holding back) I believe strongly in the Second Amendment and what my rights consist of for that particular Amendment.
Jess: I also agree that we should be able to keep our rights to protect ourselves and others in. Washington D.C
Ashley: (Gains interest in this lady) Do you mind if I ask your name?
Jess: Jess. Jess White.
Ashley: Jess. I spent so much time and I put so much effort into protesting for my rights. (Voice becomes raspy) What did I get? Nothing. As a U.S. citizen I deserve the right to bear arms and I deserve the right protect myself from the government and the criminals.
Jess: (Concerned) I too agree, gun control should not have been enforced so greatly here in Washington DC.
Ashley: (Makes sure her kids are being safe and are together on the playground) It’s displeasing to come from a place like Dallas, Texas where it is accepted to posses a firearm. To open or close carry a firearm to reinforce the fact that I am safe. It’s awful to come to a place like Washington D.C. where I lose almost all of those rights! (Jess nodding in agreement) I tried my hardest to help the greater good. I hung up flyers, I wrote emails and letters, I even gave speeches. I barely have extra time for my children, I’m working three jobs just to pay the rent and supply food for my family. (Takes a deep breath) As a citizen I do not want to lose my rights, especially one important to me and will protect myself and my family.
Jess: You tried as hard as you could, and I thank you for that! Your dedication is something I strive for.
Ashley: It’s time to go it’s getting cold and we need to get home so mom can go to work.
Jess: It was a pleasure meeting you!
(Shake hands, Jess walks away.)
(Kids run up to Ashley)
Max: Hi Mommy!
(All hold hands)
Max: Alright let’s go! 3, 2, 1.
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
What is the reason?
You think our government is helping the citizens?
What they’re doing is not pleasing.
The right has been written.
I have the right to bear arms.
A sickening feeling has risen.
What you’ve done only harms
When I lose my right to bear arms.
Scene two
(Ashley is walking to work the time is currently 11 o’clock at night)
Ashley: (Shivering) Gee it sure is cold out tonight! I can not belive how atrocious this year has been, and now I have to work multiple jobs that take the spot of my children
(Ashley thinks she hears footsteps behind her, she looks around but all she can see is the street lights behind her shining down on the lonely sidewalk behind her, she feels some relief, but still has a bad feeling in her stomach.)
Ashley: Hello? Is anybody there? (stuttering) He-hel-hello? Hello?
(She continues walking still in suspicion when suddenly someone comes up behind her and she feels a throbbing pain in her head and finds herself on the ground with blood rushing out of the side of her head.)
Jaykob: Give me your money! NOW!
Ashley: (High pitched scream) Ahhhh! Stop! Stop! I don’t have anything, I swear!
(He brings his hand with the metal rod up and thrashes it down on her with great ferocity)
(Man pulls her up from where she was laying in pain. Ashley falls to the ground and reaches with the only energy she has left for her belt (where she normally keeps her handgun) and realizes there’s nothing but her belt)
Ashley: Damn, I don't have my gun.
(Hits her another three times across the back of her head)
(Suddenly everything goes black and there is the noise of a phone ringing in the background with Lizzy sitting and coloring at a table)
Lizzy: Hello?
Person from Ashleys Work: (Clears throat) Is this the house of Ashley Parker?
Lizzy: Yeah this is, who is this?(with wonder in her voice)
Person from Ashleys Work: I was wondering why Ashley didn’t show up for work today?
Lizzy: She left like two hours ago.
Person from Ashleys Work: Her shift started about forty five minutes ago and she is still not here.
(Lizzy doesn’t respond, she sits there blankly)
Person from Ashleys Work: You know what have a nice night.
(Phone calls end)
(Lizzy calls her mom’s phone)
(Doesn’t answer, goes to voicemail)
Lizzy: Hi Mommy, I can’t wait to see you in the morning. I love you.
(Scene ends with Jaykob standing over Ashley’s dead body breathing hard with a police car pulling up behind him and the siren in the background,
Chorus:
(as Ashley’s close friends from the neighborhood)
You think guns kill?
It’s those behind the gun.
It is up to the person behind the gun and their will.
The chance for self defense is now next to none.
Banning guns won’t stop the criminals,
it’ll only add to the thrill.
So when you ban the gun,
what’s that going to do for the greater good?
Project Reflection
I am most proud of my essay that we wrote before writing our play. For the essay, we were given the task of writing an essay on both sides of the argument of our social issue, and then saying our personal perspective that we were going to take in our play. I feel as though I provided good facts and information backing up both sides of the gun control argument. Although it is difficult to back up the side of the argument that you don’t believe is right, but I feel as though I executed the ideas well enough to prove the point. One quote from my essay that I am especially proud of is as following; “We feel our rights are our own, they shouldn't be taken away just because there are others in the country that may be taking advantage of their rights.” I think that this quote simply and clearly shows my perspective of the gun control debate. It shows that our guns shouldn’t be taken away because of others. I think that my essay was a clear representation of which argument I think is correct and I am very proud of it.
Some advice that I would give to a students next year would be to use your time wisely, you will wish that you would have had more towards the end. I would also suggest, if you are planning on doing a video, to use a camera with good quality and a tripod so that the footage isn’t shaky and the video will be easier to watch. Do several takes of each scene as well, so that if there is an issue with one it will be much easier to replace since there will be several different versions. This is something that me and my partner, Mira struggled with. After going in and adding that scene to the video, we would learn that maybe we couldn't hear, or that we forgot a line and so we would have to either re-shoot that part or even re-shoot the entire scene since it wouldn't look the same. When we were shooting the scene with Lizzy, the daughter, we completely skipped a couple lines and didn’t realize until the next day. Our actor then had different clothes on and it would've looked odd if we had added another part in like that. We then had to improvise and do the phone call as a black screen rather than of the actual actor. I would also recommend leaving plenty of time to make the video, it will benefit you in the long run. If you use your time wisely and are making a video, your video will be a success.
I feel as though working in partners worked well in some ways but not in others. We cooperated well and this helped in the making of our script as well as our video. The challenging part was if one partner was gone, then it was hard to get work done. This challenge occurred in my partnership during the writing of the script. I was sick for a couple of days and I left my partner by herself writing the script. But after I got back we brainstormed and edited what she had so far of the script and then worked on the rest of the script together. It was nice having two minds working together forming ideas. The work-load is lowered which helps. Another challenge of working in partners was disagreeing on certain parts which can affect how the work turns out. To solve this problem, we would meet somewhere in the middle so we were both happy with the result. Having partnerships works in some ways but not in others.
My biggest challenge for this project was shooting the scenes for the video. Having to memorize lines made it hard and we had to re-shoot scenes several times. The first part of scene one, where the family of three is at the park, was probably the hardest to film due to the fact that the lines were very long. We tried doing it all at once, but this ended up not working and we just did it in sections, which still worked just as fine. By overcoming the challenging part of filming, we ended up taking several takes of each scene, trying to improve each time. Although this took longer, it helped improve the quality of our video. We also didn’t allow ourselves to get frustrated with the filming although it may have been difficult. This problem was one that was easy to overcome and we pushed through it to end with a strong product.
Some advice that I would give to a students next year would be to use your time wisely, you will wish that you would have had more towards the end. I would also suggest, if you are planning on doing a video, to use a camera with good quality and a tripod so that the footage isn’t shaky and the video will be easier to watch. Do several takes of each scene as well, so that if there is an issue with one it will be much easier to replace since there will be several different versions. This is something that me and my partner, Mira struggled with. After going in and adding that scene to the video, we would learn that maybe we couldn't hear, or that we forgot a line and so we would have to either re-shoot that part or even re-shoot the entire scene since it wouldn't look the same. When we were shooting the scene with Lizzy, the daughter, we completely skipped a couple lines and didn’t realize until the next day. Our actor then had different clothes on and it would've looked odd if we had added another part in like that. We then had to improvise and do the phone call as a black screen rather than of the actual actor. I would also recommend leaving plenty of time to make the video, it will benefit you in the long run. If you use your time wisely and are making a video, your video will be a success.
I feel as though working in partners worked well in some ways but not in others. We cooperated well and this helped in the making of our script as well as our video. The challenging part was if one partner was gone, then it was hard to get work done. This challenge occurred in my partnership during the writing of the script. I was sick for a couple of days and I left my partner by herself writing the script. But after I got back we brainstormed and edited what she had so far of the script and then worked on the rest of the script together. It was nice having two minds working together forming ideas. The work-load is lowered which helps. Another challenge of working in partners was disagreeing on certain parts which can affect how the work turns out. To solve this problem, we would meet somewhere in the middle so we were both happy with the result. Having partnerships works in some ways but not in others.
My biggest challenge for this project was shooting the scenes for the video. Having to memorize lines made it hard and we had to re-shoot scenes several times. The first part of scene one, where the family of three is at the park, was probably the hardest to film due to the fact that the lines were very long. We tried doing it all at once, but this ended up not working and we just did it in sections, which still worked just as fine. By overcoming the challenging part of filming, we ended up taking several takes of each scene, trying to improve each time. Although this took longer, it helped improve the quality of our video. We also didn’t allow ourselves to get frustrated with the filming although it may have been difficult. This problem was one that was easy to overcome and we pushed through it to end with a strong product.