​​Recent Press Releases

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CONTACT:     

ENOUGH! PLAYS TO END GUN VIOLENCE
Michael Cotey, The Joaquin Oliver Artistic Producer

mcotey@enoughplays.com

www.enougplays.com
 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Pivot from Kennedy Center Brings Teen-Written Gun Violence Plays to Atlanta in Partnership with Alliance Theatre and Jared’s Heart of Success, Anchoring a Nationwide Reading

 

ATLANTA, GA — September 18, 2025 — On October 6, teens will speak out against gun violence in 70 communities nationwide as art, activism, and youth voices come together for a single evening of theater. Six award-winning short plays by teen writers confronting gun violence will be staged on the same day by professional theaters, high schools, universities, and community organizations across the country as part of ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence, a grassroots performing arts and gun violence prevention initiative. At the center of this year’s movement is a flagship collaboration in Atlanta with Alliance Theatre and Jared’s Heart of Success, uniting a nationally acclaimed theater and a survivor-led community organization to anchor this year’s movement.

 

The program consists of six bold short plays by six remarkable young writers. They are Holding Space by Abby Dougherty (17, Georgia), Oh Look, Another School Shooting! by Matias Finley (17, Wisconsin), Nobody Cares About Death by Ian Hodges (16, Florida), The Perfect Victim by Payton Aurora Jones (19, California), We Didn’t Have to Meet Here by Pace Rundlett (16, Mississippi), and Under Wraps by Olivia Stanley (19, Texas). These plays confront gun violence through many lenses, including school shootings, media and political response, intimate partner violence, systemic racism, and the grief borne by survivors and families.

 

These award-winning young playwrights will travel to Atlanta for the debut of their plays as part of ENOUGH!’s flagship event, held this year in creative partnership with Alliance Theatre—Atlanta’s nationally acclaimed producing theater, recognized for its commitment to bold new work, youth engagement, and deep community impact—and Jared’s Heart of Success, an Atlanta-based, survivor-led gun violence prevention organization known for its powerful advocacy, youth programs, and community healing initiatives.

Originally slated for the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the flagship was moved to Atlanta after significant internal changes at the Center led to the dismantling of their celebrated Social Impact department that ENOUGH! partnered with in 2023. "It became clear that the Kennedy Center could no longer provide a stable and supportive home for this year’s event,’ said Michael Cotey, creator of ENOUGH! and Joaquin Oliver Artistic Producer. ‘Atlanta offers us something equally powerful: a weekend that centers our playwrights, fosters community, and deepens the impact of these plays."

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Two of this year’s winning playwrights have direct ties to Georgia: Abby Dougherty, a Georgia native and Alliance Teen Ensemble alum, and Olivia Stanley, an Emory University student.

 

“The Alliance is honored to host the ENOUGH Nationwide Reading, and to celebrate the profound work of these young playwrights,” says Alliance Theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Director Chris Moses. “It's particularly moving to showcase the talent of the Alliance Theatre's Teen Ensemble, and to welcome back an Alliance Teen Ensemble alum [Abby Dougherty] as one of the finalists. The urgency of these plays has never felt more essential, and I'm eager for Atlanta to experience and learn from these young voices.”  

 

“For us, this isn’t just a play—it’s part of a movement,” says Sharmaine Brown, CEO of Jared’s Heart of Success. She founded the organization after her son, Jared L. Brown, tragically lost his life after being struck by a stray bullet. “ENOUGH! brings the reality of gun violence into focus, reminding us that behind every story are real people, real families, and real communities. It humanizes the issue in a way that statistics never can, and that’s why it matters so deeply to our work at Jared’s Heart of Success.”

 

A Weekend of Community & Youth Voices

The flagship weekend unfolds as follows:

 

• Saturday, Oct 4 at Stonecrest Library Auditorium, 1:00 PM – Jared’s Heart of Success hosts an intimate reading of the ENOUGH! plays, followed by a community dialogue on gun violence. RSVP here 

• Sunday, Oct 5 at Alliance Theatre – Collision Workshop, a private, youth-only exchange bringing together ENOUGH!’s teen playwrights, young people from Jared’s Heart of Success, and members of the Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble for a day of creative collaboration and conversation. That evening, an invitation-only dress-rehearsal performance will welcome leaders in the gun violence prevention community.

• Monday, Oct 6 at Alliance Theatre, Selig Family Black Box, 7:00 PM – Alliance Theatre Teen Ensemble will present the ENOUGH! Plays. The performance will be followed by a post-show reflection with the playwrights and Atlanta-based gun violence prevention activists. RSVP here 

 

A Nationwide Movement

The Atlanta flagship anchors ENOUGH!’s Nationwide Reading on October 6, 2025, a coast-to-coast series of readings staged on the same evening in 31 states and 70 communities, including sites as far flung as the U.S. Virgin Islands and a U.S. military school in Germany. Participating organizations range from professional theaters to high schools, universities, faith-based groups, and gun violence prevention organizations, in both rural and urban communities. Each organization pairs its performance with a community engagement component that addresses the realities of gun violence specific to their area, ensuring the plays spark dialogue and action at a local level. Confirmed venues are listed in the attached addendum and at enoughplays.com/reading. 

 

PRESS KIT:

Access the ENOUGH! press kit for photos, playwright bios, and full play synopses HERE.

Scripts of the plays are available upon request.

 

ABOUT THE 2025 CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

ENOUGH! received 127 submissions from 28 states this past spring when it called on teens to write 10-minute plays on gun violence. The six winning plays—selected by Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds, Pulitzer Prize winner James Ijames, Kate Hamill, Karen Zacarías, and Ken Cerniglia—will premiere at the Atlanta flagship and in communities nationwide. Each winning playwright will receive a $500 stipend, see their play published and licensed through Concord Theatricals’ Playscripts imprint, and receive a Dramatists Guild membership and craft training.

 

ABOUT ENOUGH! PLAYS TO END GUN VIOLENCE

ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence promotes 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. Since 2019, ENOUGH! has received more than 700 short plays by teen writers tackling gun violence, partnered with more than 140 organizations, involved more than 3,000 artists, and reached more than 14,000 people. ENOUGH! has been covered by international press outlets PBS NewsHour, NPR, and BBC, and is the recipient of the Theater for Young Audiences Community Impact Award and the Goldin Foundation Exemplary Project Award. enoughplays.com 

 

ENOUGH!’s 2025 campaign is made possible with generous support from The CIVIS Foundation, Newtown Action Alliance Foundation, Change the Ref, The Dramatists Guild of America, and Concord Theatricals.

 

ABOUT ALLIANCE THEATRE

Founded in 1968, Alliance Theatre is the leading producing theater in the Southeast, reaching more than 165,000 patrons annually. The Alliance is led by Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses, and Managing Director Brandon Kahn. The Alliance is a recipient of the Regional Theatre Tony Award® for sustained excellence in programming, education, and community engagement. In January 2019, the Alliance opened its state-of-the-art performance space, The Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theatre. In January 2026, the Alliance will open the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families on the campus of the Woodruff Arts Center to expand its programming and commitment to excellent productions for family and student audiences of all backgrounds. Known for its high artistic standards and national role in creating significant theatrical works, the Alliance has premiered more than 140 productions, including eleven that have transferred to Broadway. The Alliance education department reaches more than 90,000 students annually through performances, classes, camps, and in-school initiatives designed to support teachers and enhance student learning. The Alliance Theatre values community, curiosity, collaboration, and excellence, and is dedicated to representing Atlanta's diverse community with the stories we tell, the artists, staff, and leadership we employ, and the audiences we serve. www.alliancetheatre.org  

 

ABOUT JARED’S HEART OF SUCCESS

​Jared’s Heart of Success’ mission is to break the cycle of violence by empowering youth, especially those impacted by trauma, through mentoring, peer mediation, conflict resolution, and mental wellness support. We provide emotional support and equip individuals with restorative tools and life skills to help them heal, grow, and lead positive change in their lives. jaredsheartofsuccess.org 

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ADDENDUM: Full List of 2025 ENOUGH! Nationwide Reading Venues

70 locations, 31 States

A map of all participating readings is available at enoughplays.com/reading
 

360 Theatre School / Bak Middle School Of The Arts (West Palm Beach, FL)

All in Productions (Milwaukee, WI)

Alleyway Theatre (Buffalo, NY)

Alliance Theatre (Atlanta, GA)

American Lives Theatre (Indianapolis, IN)

Applause Community Theatre (St. Paul, MN)

Arizona State University / Prism Theatre Company / Black Theatre organization  (Tempe, AZ)

Asante Art Institute of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN)

Asbury Community Theatre (Rochester, NY)

Asheville High Theatre / Different Strokes Performing Arts Collective (Asheville, NC)

b.unity (Bolingbrook, IL)

Baumholder Middle High School (Germany)

Blue Box Theatre (Dilworth, MN)

Bridge Street Theatre (Catskill, NY)

Burning Coal Theatre Co (Raleigh, NC)

California State University - Fullerton: Department of Theatre & Dance (Fullerton, CA)

CCNY Graduate Program in Educational Theatre (New York, NY)

Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center (College Park, MD)

CT Against Gun Violence Education Fund (Bridgeport, CT)

da Vinci Arts Middle School (Portland, OR)

Des Moines Young Artist Theater (Des Moines, IA)

East Baton Rouge Parish Schools (Baton Rouge, LA)

Elizabeth Youth Theater Ensemble (Elizabeth, NJ)

Ensemble Theatre Company (Santa Barbara, CA)

Garfield High School (Seattle, WA)

Globe Openstage (Chantilly, VA)

Hendersonville Theatre (Hendersonville, NC)

Hoosiers Concerned about Gun Violence (Indianapolis, IN)

Imagine NEPA Performing Arts Center   (Dalton, PA)

Indian River High School (Philadelphia, NY)

Jared's Heart of Success, Inc. (Stonecrest, GA)

Kecoughtan High School Theatre (Hampton, VA)

Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (Sudbury, MA)

Long Beach Polytechnic High School (Long Beach, CA)

Marshall Area Stage Company (Marshall, MN)

Merrillville High School Thespian Troupe #1692 (Merrillville, IN)

Mississippi State University, Theatre MSU (Mississippi State, MS)

Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit (Detroit, MI)

Niagara University Theatre (Niagara University, NY)

Night Shift (Kalamazoo, MI)

Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater (Middletown, CT)

Oregon Episcopal School (Portland, OR)

Orlando Family Stage (Orlando, FL)

Paonia Players (Paonia, CO)

Project Excel Grandport Academy Ecorse Public Schools (Ecorse, MI)

Rancho Buena Vista High School (Margaretville, NY)

Rio Rancho Creative Crossroads / Open Arts Studio NM  (Rio Rancho, NM)

Rockford University (Rockford, IL)

Rowland Hall (Salt Lake City, UT)

San Francisco Mime Troupe (San Francisco, CA)

South Bend Civic Theatre (South Bend, IN)

St Louis Black Repertory Company -The Black Rep (St. Louis, MO)

St. Croix Educational Complex High School and Act Out Ensemble Theatre of the Oppressed Virgin Islands  (St. Croix, US Virgin Islands)

Stages Theatre Company (Hopkins, MN)

StarStruck Academy & Theatre (Stuart, FL)

Students Demand Action - Sauk Prairie (Sauk Prairie, WI)

Tamara Rothman / Anchorage Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (Anchorage, AK)

Texas State University (San Marcos, TX)

The Alcazar Theatre (Carpinteria, CA)

The Open Eye Theater (Margaretville, NY)

The Well Theatre (Charleston, SC)

Theater By The Grove at Indiana University of Pennsylvania   (Indiana, PA)

Theater for the New City / Gays Against Guns (New York, NY)

Think Tank TYA (Tampa, FL)

Townview Magnet Center  (Dallas, TX)

Trenton Central High School (Trenton, NJ)

Union College (Barbourville, KY)

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa  (Honolulu, HI)

Wake Forest University - Anthony Aston Players (Winston-Salem, NC)

Waukee High School (Waukee, IA)

 

A map of all participating readings is available at enoughplays.com/reading 

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