"Punk Rock"

William Carlisle (played by Connor Donnally)with Lilly Cahill (played by Alyson Danielczuk) in a scene from Connecticut Repertory Theatre¿s upcoming Studio Works Series production of "Punk Rock," by Simon Stephens (Seam Nicolls / March 12, 2013)

Connecticut Repertory Theatre will present Simon Stephens' "Punk Rock" March 28 to April 7, in the Studio Theatre on the Storrs campus.

Stephens is described as "an award-winning English playwright characterized as part of the “in-yer-face” generation, who artfully weaves the highly politically charged issue of gun control with a rich portrayal of the turbulence of adolescence."

The show contains provocative  political, social and language.

The 2009 play, set at a British boarding school, is inspired by the 1999 Columbine shooting, which Stephens says, “felt like the start of the 21st century.” Ferociously funny, complex, contemporary and unnerving, the show "explores the underlying jittery tensions, hormonal headiness and potential violence in a group of affluent, articulate 17 year-old students as they begin to plan for college and the rest of their lives.  What happens when kids have the world at their feet, and its weight on their shoulders?

Director Kristin Wold, who teaches acting and movement in the BFA and MFA Acting programs at the University of Connecticut, on "Punk Rock;"  "The play is unflinching as it takes us into a world that is frightening, a world that we'd rather not look at, a world which explores the danger and latent violence of humanity.  It asks the incredibly difficult question of how it is possible for a young person to go into his school and shoot his classmates.  The issue is not gun control (handguns are illegal in England), but rather the psychological and social forces at play in the lives of the characters. The brilliance of the play is that it derails the impulse to demonize and blame the characters. We are asked to be courageous, look at them and see if we can understand.”

The play features undergraduate acting students: Alyson Danielczuk, Conor Donnally, Thomas Dubinski, Julia Estrada, Shane Tyler Harris, Colleen Labella, John Manning Jr., and Margaret Sulka; as well as localchild actor Courtney Schoeplein.

Information: 860-486-2113 and www.crt.uconn.edu.

 Information: 860-486-2113 and www.crt.uconn.edu.