Adam Ruben presents "Please Don't Beat Me Up: Stories and Artifacts from Adolescence," a one-hour solo show that features true stories about embarrassment suffered during adolescence, including a fourth-grade class election gone awry, a stuffed animal smuggled into summer camp, and a relay race during Fifth Grade Field Day that was never meant to be. The stories are interspersed with readings from readings from old diaries, video clips, and a manifesto of self-pity written while sitting at home dateless during tenth-grade Homecoming.
The show, which is primarily a comedy, aims to address bullying in a realistic fashion. It concludes with a discussion of the flaws in the anti-bullying advice often given by well-meaning teachers and parents and an exploration of the show's central issue: If "Be yourself" is such good advice for kids, why doesn't it work?
This show debuted at the Capital Fringe Festival in 2011 and has since been performed at the Fringe Wilmington Festival, Fringe Unhinged, Concord High School (Wilmington, DE), and The Potomac School (Mclean, VA), with upcoming performances scheduled at Celebration Barn Theater (South Paris, ME), the Islesboro Community Center (Islesboro, ME), and several DC public schools and after-school programs.
$5 online pre-sale
$8 at the door
Learn more: http://adamruben.net/please-dont-beat-me-up/
Becky Lee, executive director and founder of Becky's Fund, will join the discussion to share her organization's efforts to prevent domestic violence and bullying through the creative arts.
