Scranton students send message through art

SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Students from Lackawanna County are hoping to send a powerful message through art.

It’s a theatrical performance centered around the global epidemic of school shootings and gun violence.

Students and former students of Scranton and West Scranton High School put on a performance exploring how gun violence affects the lives of America’s youth.

A disturbing, but enlightening night of theater.

Friday night the Rev Theater Company presented “Soda Pop Can: an American High School Story,” or what has become known in America as a real-life nightmare.

“I’m playing with my peers. I’m playing my friends and it’s so prevalent in society all the time,” 19-year-old, Josephine Krokus Scranton High School.

Stepping into the medical field on Match Day

Inside the space at Olive in Scranton, four teenage cast members from Scranton and West Scranton High School presented a play on gun violence.

“It’s powerful, provocative and I will say a difficult piece because the subject matter is troubling,” Ruby Caporaso the co-artistic director.

They each played the role of a victim, suspect, or psychologist, depicting the real-life stories and situations that have happened in schools across America.

There were references to multiple mass shootings.

What profiling of a “school shooter,” looks like, and the reenactment of the fears and trauma students experience.

“I hope that I do it justice. it’s personal to me. I’ve never been in a school shooting but I’ve experienced the fear that comes along with it,” stated 17-year-old Keliss Perkins Scranton High School.

The soda cans represent the victims similar to the ones used for target shooting.

For these students, it’s not just acting it’s a daily reality.

“Every single day in every single setting it’s in the back of your head. you’re thinking about that what if, where are my exits, what if somebody barges in. it can be random and it’s always on my mind,” explained Krokus.

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