''The Library'' is a 2014 play written by Scott Z. Burns concerning the aftermath of a school shooting that takes place in the school library. It was inspired by Dave Cullen's book '' Columbine'' about the

Columbine High School massacre A school shooting and attempted bombing occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 13 students and one teach ...

. The original production ran from March 25 to April 27, 2014, at

the Public Theater The Public Theater is an arts organization in New York City. Founded by Joseph Papp, The Public Theater was originally the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954; its mission was to support emerging playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, directed by

Steven Soderbergh Steven Andrew Soderbergh ( ; born January 14, 1963) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. A pioneer of modern Independent film, independent cinema, Soderbergh later drew acclaim for formally inventiv ...

and starred

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, with early roles in the horror film ''The Amityville Horror (2005 film), The Amityville Horror'' (2005), the drama series ''Desperate Housewives' ...

Plot

The play centers on Caitlin Gabriel, a high-school student in an unnamed town who survives a school shooting, then struggles to relay her version of events against eyewitness reports from fellow survivors that she informed the shooter, who is based on

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold Eric David Harris (April 9, 1981 – April 20, 1999) and Dylan Bennet Klebold ( ; September 11, 1981 – April 20, 1999) were American high school seniors and mass murderers who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre at Columbine ...

, where other students had hidden. Even her own parents accept media reports of this accusation, which spark widespread revulsion towards her in the aftermath of the shooting.

Cast

* Ben Livingston *

Michael O'Keefe Michael O'Keefe (born Raymond Peter O'Keefe Jr.; April 24, 1955) is an American actor known for his roles as Danny Noonan in '' Caddyshack''; Ben Meechum in '' The Great Santini,'' for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Bes ...

Daryl Sabara Daryl Christopher Sabara (born June 14, 1992) is an American actor. He is known for portraying Juni Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' film series, and for a variety of television and film appearances, first as a child actor and continuing into adult r ...

Lili Taylor Lili Anne Taylor (born February 20, 1967) is an American actress. She came to prominence with supporting parts in the films '' Mystic Pizza'' (1988) and '' Say Anything...'' (1989), before establishing herself as one of the key figures of 1990s i ...

* David Townsend * Tamara Tunie *

Jennifer Westfeldt Jennifer Westfeldt (born February 2, 1970) is an American actress, director, screenwriter, and producer. She is best known for co-writing, co-producing, and starring in the 2002 indie film '' Kissing Jessica Stein'', for which she received an I ...

Reception

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher, and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 t ...

described the play as a "sound-and-light tsunami" that "leans without mercy on our alarm buttons" and when the panic subsides, "like the characters onstage, we’re left looking for patterns in the chaos." Playwright Burns doesn't make the mistake of trying to find clear motivations for that crime, but considers how such events warp and contaminate those who survive them. The culprit is "a media-driven culture that searches for instant heroes, while turning tragedy into profit as fast as it can." Disaster brings out both pettiness and heroic traits, and ''The Library'' tantalizes with seemingly incidental details, such as Caitlin's self-doubt and the possibility that she knew the shooter more than the play exposes.

Production

''The Library'' is loosely based on Dave Cullen's book '' Columbine'' about the

. Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall briefly acquired the theatrical rights to Cullen's book, initially with the intention of turning it into a feature film by director

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. Often described as one of the preeminent directors of his generation, David Fincher filmography, his films, of which most are psychological thrillers, have collectiv ...

. The producers ultimately decided against turning the book into a film about the Columbine massacre. Instead, they adapted the book into a play which incorporated themes from the book.

Possible future

Producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall have expressed their intention to put the play on in other cities across the United States, and possibly around the world. They also discussed the possibility of adapting the play into a series for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Library 2014 plays Off-Broadway plays Works about the Columbine High School massacre Works by Scott Z. Burns