— ARTS AND FEATURES
UNCA drama department prepares for emotional play
Photo courtesy of the UNCA drama department
Adam Wise (left) and Keegan Bates (right) play school shooters in the drama department’s newest production, “columbinus.”
Students face challenges, work on character development
Tina Scruggs and
Cory A. Tnompson
cscwggWunca.edu - atatt wrner
coryetc@gmail.com - Staff Writer
UNC Asheville’s drama department
deals with difficult issues in its next
play, “columbinus,” which focuses on
two distraught teenage boys, a school
shooting and the resulting aftermath.
Adam Wise plays Freak, one of the
main characters. Wise said his role
challenges him. His last part was a sup
porting character in “Spring Awaken
ing.”
“I’ve never had the chance to play
anything like this before, so it’s been
a good stretch and it’s an important
story,” Wise said. “I’ve never had to be
so emotional, like go on an emotional
roller coaster like that. And I’ve never
had to play a psychopath.”
According to Wise, playing a psycho
path does not put him in a great mood.
He leaves the character behind at the
theater in order to maintain his sanity.
“I’m not a violent person, so getting
to the place where you’re so angry and
you hate everything and you just think
that the world should essentially have a
reset button - getting into that mindset
is kind of difficult,” Wise said.
In the moment, playing the part is
fine, but when Wise steps off the stage,
he said he feels as though he essentially
just did everything his character did.
“Sometimes I try not to go so deep
into it, but you kind of just - you have
to. Or at least pretend to,” Wise said.
After doing some research. Wise said
he decided Columbine is something
where he feels bad for everyone in
volved in the situation.
“You can’t excuse their actions, but
they’re just kind of sad individuals and
Eric is just a complete psychopath, but
he was still a 17-year-old kid,” Wise
said.
Sean Preston, a freshman who
plays Jock, said the play has an impor
tant message for its viewers.
“It just reinforces that we aren’t here
to necessarily entertain. We are not
here to make people laugh. We’re here
to give a message and show people that
these things happen and that we want
to prevent them and how,” Preston said.
Preston said he hopes when people
see the play, the details of the after-
math and what happens, it will spread
knowledge of school shootings. He also
hopes it will encourage more education
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