Art imitates life in a new play opening Friday at Synchronicity Theatre in Midtown Atlanta.
"Ripe Frenzy" is about a mass shooting during rehearsals for a high school production of "Our Town."
"We are doing as much as possible for the play to be a chance for healing, a chance for learning, a chance for talking about solutions," Director Rachel May told 11Alive's Jennifer Leslie.
Rehearsals for "Ripe Frenzy" began several weeks ago, but the planning started almost a year before the Parkland school massacre.
May said the play is designed to be personal and not political.
"'Ripe Frenzy' is about an experience of mothers and their children before and after a school shooting," she explained. "They're in their rehearsals for the 40th production of 'Our Town' by Thornton Wilder and in the midst of this production, tragedy strikes."
The play explores isolation, bullying, suicide, gun control and mental health, but the shooting itself is not in it.
"I know some people have been concerned about that," May said. "But it's not about that. It's about what got us here and what do you do afterward, and how do you bring those two worlds together."
Every production will include a post-show discussion.
Synchronicity Theatre also has high school workshops scheduled during the play's run through early May.
