Benchmark Theatre explores gun rights

Coming Attractions

The issue of gun rights is one that almost everyone has an opinion about and has the rare distinction of being one that is literally costing lives as more and more time goes on.

All of this makes tackling guns on the stage no easy feat. But those are just the kinds of stories LakeBenchmark eatre, 1560 Teller St., lives to tell. And that’s what they’re doing with the world premiere of “Jeremiah.” e show runs through Saturday, Sept. 2. Performances are at 8 p.m. ursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Written by Tami Canaday and directed by Kate Poling, the show follows four young men (Brandon Billings, Nate Cushing, James Giordano and Kaden Hinkle) who get enmeshed in a situation involving a gun. e challenge of exploring toxic masculinity and gun culture in a way that everyone in the audience can hopefully relate to. I think theatre can shine a light on issues in really powerful ways, and the opportunity to narrow a wide-ranging and hot-button topic to a slice of life in Aurora was a fascinating and enticing challenge.

We spoke to Poling about the show, the cast and more.

Interview edited for brevity and clarity.

What drew you to the production?

Tell me about working with the cast?

Because this is a world premiere, we are developing these characters without precedent, and it’s been wonderful to work with a group of actors who are nding the humanity of these characters. It would be easy to create stereotypical characters, and I think my cast has done an excellent job of cutting through that to