Live Recording - November 14, 2020

Recorded Live in the Studio Theater in the Ron Houston Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are $10, and all proceeds will go to scholarships for Theatre Northwest students.

Based on a true story, "Good Kids" is set in a Midwestern high school, in a world of Facebook and Twitter, smartphones and YouTube; relating a traumatic sexual encounter and its very public aftermath.

The play explores rape culture, the impact social media has on the victims of sexual assault, and the concept that “memory is a broken machine”.

Guided by a mysterious narrator, the play fast forwards and rewinds through moments and reactions before and after the assault; detailing the reactions of the students and adults of the story. It is our hope this will cause the audience to examine their own viewpoints and biases on this important, timely, relevant topic.

This production contains sensitive subject matter and strong language. For mature audiences.

"Good Kids" is the first work of a New Play Initiative established by the Big Ten Theatre Consortium. This collaboration among theatre departments will commission, produce, and publicize a series of new plays by female playwrights, with the goal of creating strong female characters.

Cast:

The Girls
Krysta Ott – Amber
Christina Short - Madison
Dana Labart – Brianna
Jenna DeLaRosa – Kylie
Taylor Holley – Chloe
Katie Waterman - Daphne
Payton Thompson - Skyler
Kailyn Peterson – Deirdre

The Boys
Kaleb Cowling – Connor
Noah Graham – Ty
Drew Walker – Landon
Josiah Fahnestock – Tanner

Production Team:

Katheryn Bilbo - Director
Cory Busch- Assistant Director
Taylor Holley- Assistant Director
Jackson Zimmerman - Stage Manager
Remy Lupo - Assistant Stage Manager
Zoey Tensen - Assistant to the Stage Manager
Stephanie M. Jorandby – Costume Designer
Aleka Fischer- Assistant Costume Designer
Krysta Ott – Hair and Makeup Designer
Christina Short- Wardrobe Manager/Assistant to the Costume Designer
Matthew Danner, Meghan Feeney, Mathew Nash - Wardrobe
Patrick J. Immel – Scenic/Lighting Designer
Emma Aldrich- Assistant Lighting Designer/ Programmer
Abbey Southworth- Assistant Scenic Designer/ Projections
Jenna DeLaRosa- Assistant Scenic Designer/Projections
Jamie Thygesen, Abbey Southworth – Projections Operators
Patrick McGary- Sound Designer/ Master Electrician
Alex Meierhofer – Props Master
Jack Bilbo – Technical Director
Remy Lupo- Assistant Technical Director
Nate Brown – Light Board Operator
Patrick McGary – Sound Board Operator
Mike Wilson- Dramaturgy
Katheryn Bilbo – Head of Publicity
Taylor Holley – Publicity/Front of House Manager
Noah Graham – Social Media Manager
Alex Meierhofer, Emilia Plasek, Haley Kernes, Tristan Rardon – Front of House/Box Office

Understudies:

Cory Busch, Brianna Clemons, Shannon Kennedy, Haley Kernes, Remy Lupo, Emilia Plasek, Samir Sedky, Christina Short

Film Crew:

Mikey Williams – Producer
Sydney Garner – Producer
Baylee Ramseier - Technical Director
Colby Holtman – Camera 1
Craig McMullen – Camera 2 Medium
Tyler Brough – Camera 3 Close Up
JD Wessel – Camera 4 Close Up

Director’s Notes:

“So here’s the thing: Memory is a broken machine. People remember what they want to remember. They see things how they want to see them.” – Good Kids

Naomi Iizuka based her play on the true story of a 2012 incident in Steubenville OH; the details of which being nearly the same as those presented here. Good Kids has been produced regularly in university environments since it was written in 2015. Despite higher education taking more and more active steps in addressing sexual assault on college campuses, statistics* remain depressingly consistent:

…13% of all college students will experience sexual assault/rape; often while incapacitated due to alcohol or drugs.

…9 out of every 10 victims are female.

…57% of these crimes are perpetrated by white males.

…While this play focuses on an incident between heterosexual persons, a staggering 23% of all LGBTQ students will be victims as well.

…only 5 out of every 1000 perpetrators go to prison

Any types of statistics tend to be impersonal facts; faceless, emotionless… until you become one. As Chloe says in the play, “You think this can’t happen to you? Think again.”

Sexual crimes often go unreported, for reasons including those presented in the play. ‘Rape culture’ is dominant in our society (and others around the world): public shaming of victims, an unwillingness to take victims at their word, and sympathizing with perpetrators. For example, when reporting on the Steubenville, OH rape incident, CNN’s Poppy Harlow said, ‘It was incredibly emotional - incredibly difficult...to watch what happened as these two young men that had such promising futures - star football players, very good students, literally watch, as they believe their life fell apart.” CNN reporter Paul Callan added, ‘Lives are destroyed...the most severe thing with these young men is being labeled as registered sex offenders. That label is now placed on them by Ohio law. That will haunt them for the rest of their lives.’ Co-correspondent Candy Crowley replied, “I cannot imagine how emotional the sentencing must have been...a 16-year-old (football player), sobbing in court...what’s the lasting emotional effect though, on two young men being found guilty in juvenile court of rape, essentially?’ The victim was never mentioned.

Another widely accepted bias is the assumption it is the responsibility of women to prevent being raped by being careful what they wear and how they act, rather than putting the onus on perpetrators in the first place. Misogyny runs deep in many cultures, including our own. The objectification of women and their bodies is perpetuated in part by song lyrics, commercial ads, film, television, video games, and other forms of “entertainment”. It is so ingrained, most of the time we don’t even notice. The advent of social media has increased this trauma for victims by posting details and videos of incidents for the world to see, inviting judgment from thousands and online bullying. While these incidents change a victim’s life forever regardless of age, for teenagers in particular it can have catastrophic results. Many young victims wind up taking their life.

By presenting this story, we can spread awareness of the prevalence of sexual assault and hopefully cause audiences to look inward, confront these subconscious biases, and work together for change. Theatre can be a powerful tool with the power to transform the world, one performance at a time. It is our responsibility as artists to mirror the realities of life; such as The Way Things Are, and The Way We Hope Them to Become. It is our desire to do both. - Katheryn Bilbo

If you or someone you love has been a victim of sexual assault, please call 800-656-HOPE. You are not alone.