Bang Bang Youre Dead is largely based on a shooting in Oregon in 1998, in which a fifteen-year old boy killed his parents and then two of his fellow high school pupils, injuring many others at the same time, although it also contains references to other high school shootings of the same period. Its purpose is to raise awareness of the beginnings of school violence, which are not always easily seen.The play is about a boy named Josh who is in prison after killing his parents and five classmates. The ghosts of those classmates demand to know why he killed them . Josh refuses to answer so the ghosts seize Josh and push him into a coffin. They only let him out after he begs them and he then talks to them. They remind him of his first hunting trip when he killed a buck, even though he was almost overcome by the beauty of the animal. Afterwards he bitterly regretted killing it but at the same time enjoyed the respect he received from other hunters.The ghosts then recount their final day at school, which ends with Josh killing his parents and the five classmates. Their stories show how the initial cause was a trivial argument between Josh and another boy, which then escalated out of control. Or perhaps it had started years before, when Josh was first bullied and made fun of, causing him immense pain which nobody had ever taken seriously.The play powerfully evokes a sense of great loss for those whose lives were cut short the chances of going to college, travelling the world, falling in love and having families. However, it also shows that Josh too has lost everything he will now spend the rest of his life in prison and will never be able to do any of the things hed dreamed about. Josh exclaims I never thought I was taking away all that!The intentions of the writer are that this play will reach out to potential killers and make them pause before taking their final step and realise what it means to kill someone. It also tells us that people shouldnt be excluded or laughed at just because theyre a little bit different or slow. Overall, this is a very moving and thought-provoking production.
