Student Production of ’26 Pebbles’ Encircles Tragedy with Healing and Hope

Last summer, Samuelson looked at numerous scripts, seeking a one-act play that would accommodate a tight rehearsal schedule yet challenge her students. "Every script I read, after 10 pages I would put it down. 'No, no, no.' Then I picked up '26 Pebbles' and I couldn't stop reading it. It was so beautifully crafted and honest. And it really brings up a lot for the students to talk about."

Indeed, after the first all-class reading of the script, before the play was cast, the dominant reaction was apprehension.

"At first, I thought performing this play was an impossible task. With a subject we have become so desensitized to, bringing these characters to life almost seemed cynical," said Junior Cruz Mercado, a fourth-year global arts studies major. "But after our second rehearsal, I saw the vision we could hope to reach as a team."

Lois Lopez, a fourth-year psychology major, said the first reading left her doubting they could pull it off. She followed up with personal research on Newtown (remember that these students were 10 or younger when it happened).

"After that, it was a lot easier to access their emotions," Lopez said. "Reading the play versus acting it are two completely different experiences."

The play's title refers to one character's description of a pebble tossed into water - the concentric circles it sends out, spreading and bouncing and overlapping. Like senseless violence. Or resilience and hope.

"Sandy Hook didn't go away just because the news stopped covering it. It lives on in our hearts and minds," said actor Kenzie Nguen, a second-year cognitive science and psychology major. "I think bringing it to public consciousness and hearing how a community copes with such a tragedy is an important message."