Never Forget. (ShPIeL-Performing Identity)

Room 1214 By Michelle Kholos Brooks Directed by David Y Chack  A review by Kate Barry

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It continues to happen. An active shooter enters a school. These horrific occurrences cause mayhem but what is left behind is worse. Room 1214 dives deep into the events that occurred at a high school in Parkland, Florida in 2018 while drawing parallels with the Holocaust. ShPIeL Performing Identity’s production is important and heartbreaking and should be seen and talked about.

The play is not easy to watch nor should it be. Acts of gun violence are bluntly re-enacted, topics of gun control policy and the psychological state of the Parkland shooter are raised with honesty and grit. The undertones of grief and pain are ever present while avoiding any kind of preachy or convoluted exposition. Instead, we meet Lilly Friedman (played by Sophia Pietrkowski) a teacher who loved her students, returning to her classroom in effort to find answers and maybe even closure.  

Sophia Pietrkowski guides the show as an honest narrator with the same amount of energy as your favorite high school teacher. As Lilly, Pietrkowski carries grief stricken questions as well as a touch of gallows humor in lighter moments.  Her pain is evident yet the emotionally charged performance is balanced. Pietrkowski’s Lilly examines the reality of the tragedy in contrast and comparison with those who suffered in the Holocaust. Pietrkowski’s character keeps the synchronicity afloat in moments of tense debate and understanding with her ensemble of students. Here the play effortlessly explores how denial of the past can only damage the future.

At the sound of a gong, Lilly summons the spirits of her beloved students. Nate (Jacob Arnold), Hannah (Stasia Schaum), Ellie (Ava Vanderkolff), and additional ensemble (Roscoe Henning and Katherine Krutsick) channel smart, bright teenagers robbed of their promised futures. As a cast, these five actors are strong yet vulnerable in the shade of grief. As though nothing has changed, these students go to their favorite teacher for wisdom, counsel and comfort. Like any high school class, the cast does well to show bonds and support one another. Jacob Arnold does well to create tension that leads to fully executed anger with his “I didn’t go war, I just went to school” bit. Vanderkolff’s performance is equally measured as she navigates shock and guilt. Stasia Schaum is heartbreaking in the play’s pivotal scene with Pietrkrowsi as they rethink their steps in the eyes of danger with words of love.

Upon leaving the MeX, I could not stop thinking about this play. The set comprised of a fence wrapped in caution tape, the broken glass on the door in addition to the emotionally raw performances. But what really stuck out to me: how events in Parkland continue to happen and the need for change.

Room 1214

ShPIeL Performing Identity

Feb 16, 2025 2:00 PM Feb 19, 2025 7:30 PM Feb 20, 2025 7:30 PM Feb 21, 2025 7:30 PM Feb 22, 2025 7:30 PM Feb 23, 2025 2:00 PM MeX Theater –Kentucky Performing Arts 501 West Main St Louisville KY 40202 https://www.shpielperformingidentity.com/