SHARDS
Genre: Contemporary Drama
Format: Live In-Person Performance
Keywords: school violence, collective grief, moral responsibility, media and trauma, community aftermath, teenage voices
Cast Size: 22 (9 male, 13 female); with doubling, as few as 18 (9 male, 9 female)
Duration: Approximately 75 minutes
Time Period: Contemporary
Cautions: Gun violence; death of teenagers; strong language; depictions of grief, anger, and trauma
After a school shooting claims the lives of four students, a community struggles to understand what happened and how to move forward. Rather than depicting the violence itself, Shards examines the aftermath—following students, parents, and the media as they search for meaning, responsibility, and justice.
Told through short scenes, news reports, classroom debates, monologues, and choral speaking, the play presents many perspectives without offering easy answers. As grief lingers and the legal process unfolds, Shards captures the fractured reality of trauma and the difficult work of collective reckoning.
How We Price
Our pricing is simple and transparent. Each play includes two parts: a one-time script fee of $150, which grants you immediate access to the play and permission to copy and share it within your program; and a performance license of $65 per performance, which covers your live productions for the selected license duration.
How You License
At checkout, select your license duration (for example, the current or next school year) and the number of performances you plan to give. Each license covers live, in-person performances.
What You Get
You’ll receive an instant download of the following:
- the script
- free lesson plan set
- Author Insights article
- cast breakdown & doubling guide
During your license period, you’re free to copy, print, and share the script within your school or theatre program for rehearsal and performance use—no per-script fees or copy limits.
Praise for This Play
"Rosemary FrisinoToohey’s School Shooter [original title] is an examination of ugly, heinous tragedies that
overtake ordinary lives. But this fictional drama...is carefully crafted and elegantly written with a reasoned tone that eschews sensationalism … The result is a moving, thought-provoking account that makes good use of such theatrical devices as direct address, multiple casting and occasional non-naturalistic touches … Toohey resists the temptation to tie things up neatly in the end … The varied angles from which she explores it offer a powerful testament to the wide-ranging impact of a seemingly senseless, horrific event." - J. Wynn Rousuck, Arts/Life, SunSpot.net, Maryland 2/27/2003
"The play opens with a scene typical of most high schools in America. Teens milling about, talking incessantly before the school day begins… (Director Sharon) Weaver…was at the first reading of the work. She instantly felt compelled to direct it, she said. 'The dramatic aspect of it appeals to me as a teacher and a parent.'" - Mary T. Robbins, The Towson Times, Maryland 3/5/2003
"Her work got the attention of Bob Russell, the Executive Producer and Artistic Director at Spotlighters. "She has a wonderful way of capturing the essence of a character through her lines,' Russell said of FrisinoToohey, whose own experiences and those of her children, inform the play." - Alyson
Klein, TODAY, The Sun, Baltimore, Maryland 3/15/2003
Awards for This Play
Finalist, Gunplay Competition, Champaign, Illinois, 2014
Winner, North American Actors Association Play Festival, London, U.K., 2007
Individual Artist Award & Grant, Maryland State Arts Council, 2003
Finalist, Women at the Door Competition, Chicago, Illinois, 2003
Finalist, Trustus Theatre Playwrights Festival, Columbia, South Carolina, 2003