MACT Logo. Upper portion is comedy/drama masks with comedy mask in yellow and drama mask in blue. Lower portion has the acronym "MACT" and below it the description MN Association of Community Theatres.MACT

MACT

Minnesota Association of Community Theatres

Home of Minnesota’s Theatre Community

Enough Gun Violence!

Another school year has barely started and already there is a shooting at a school … and it’s right in our own back yard! Hardly a day goes by without hearing about another shooting on our streets and even in our schools and churches! What can we do as a theatre community to combat this tragic injuring, and even killing, of our young people? Theatre can be a powerful voice for change in our communities.

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.

ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence‘s six searing new plays confronting gun violence as the 2025 winning selections of its fourth national short play competition:

  • Holding Space by Abby Dougherty (17, Georgia) investigates the emotional toll of healing and resistance following a school shooting.
  • Oh Look, Another School Shooting! by Matias Finley (17, Wisconsin) questions the cyclical nature of gun violence in schools and the ideological finger-pointing that follows.
  • Nobody Cares About Death by Ian Hodges (16, Florida) gives Death the chance to weigh in on the increasing number of gunshot victims he has to meet each year.
  • The Perfect Victim by Payton Aurora Jones (19, California) examines the power of community care in the face of violence and systemic racism.
  • We Didn’t Have to Meet Here by Pace Rundlett (16, Mississippi) highlights the variety of human stories behind the statistics of gun violence in America.
  • Under Wraps by Olivia Stanley (19, Texas) dramatizes the dangerous escalation of intimate partner violence through movement and poetry.

Created in 2019 by Michael Cotey, ENOUGH! 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. This year’s winning plays will debut on October 6, 2025, with a flagship performance at a to-be-announced venue, serving as the cornerstone of a nationwide evening of readings staged coast-to-coast.

It looks like at least four theatres in Minnesota are signed up to participate in this year’s play reading:

  • Applause Community Theatre (St Paul)
  • Blue Box Theatre (Dilworth)
  • Marshall Area Stage Company (Marshall)
  • Stages Theatre Company (Hopkins)

Applause did a workshop on this program at the last MACT*Fest. You can find more information about the program and how to participate on the ENOUGH! website: https://www.enoughplays.com/.