We support Copley students

A Statement from the Makeshift Theater Board of Directors on She Kills Monsters

The Board of Directors of Makeshift Theater is glad to learn that the students of Copley High School will have the chance to perform She Kills Monsters after all. We applaud the Copley-Fairlawn superintendent for acknowledging the hurt this decision caused and for opening the high school auditorium, free of charge, so the production can go forward under an independent organization.

We remain deeply troubled, however, by how this production was halted in the first place. These students auditioned, were cast, and had already begun rehearsals when the play was pulled following a parent’s complaint about its content. Whatever the procedural explanation, the message young people received was clear: a story that reflects some of their own lives and the lives of their friends was not welcome on their school’s stage. A single objection should never be enough to silence a story that so many students, families, and educators believed in.

She Kills Monsters is a widely produced, award-winning play about grief, family, friendship, bullying, and identity. It is about a young woman getting to know the sister she lost and learning to see her fully. Those are exactly the kinds of conversations theater is meant to open, and exactly the kinds of conversations our young people deserve to have.

At Makeshift, we believe the arts belong to everyone. This past January, we were proud to produce She Kills Monsters on our own stage, and we will continue to look for opportunities to share stories that explore these same themes. Students need the chance to perform, create, and see themselves and others reflected honestly on stage. They also need adults who will protect that chance, not take it away.

To the Copley students who stood up for this play and for one another: we see you, we are proud of you, and we look forward to being in the audience.

The Board of Directors, Makeshift Theater