A student-run play about the life and death of Trayvon Martin, as well as Jordan Davis, is about to open on stage.
In 2012 Trayvon Martin was shot and killed in Sanford by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman. Later that same year, Jordan Davis was shot and killed at a Jacksonville gas station by Michael Dunn of Satellite Beach.
Those tragedies led to protests and serve as the inspiration for Valencia College’s latest theater production.
“We needed to get all viewpoints about this,” said director and playwright John DiDonna.
Students and staff conducted more than 150 hours worth of interviews with family members, politicians, protestors, photographers and fellow students about those two events.
“It was definitely tough for me to hear some of the things I heard, but you have to remain neutral when you’re going through this process,” said playwright Stelson Telfort.
And it’s those spoken words that became a series of monologues in the play. This performance is not a re-enactment of those deadly shootings and does not include any props.
Throughout the 90-minute show, the cast of 15 students will focus on the impact of these two tragedies and the affect it had on society.
“They will hear an ongoing conversation of clashing viewpoints and by the end of the play we don’t give you any answers,” DiDonna said.
The cast expects there to be mixed opinions and reviews of the performance, so at the end of the show they will continue the conversation with the audience.
The Trayvon-Jordan Project's "Divison" will be at the Valencia Black Box Theater starting next Wednesday, Feb. 11.