23 PEBBLES by Carol Kaufman Segal

            23 Pebbles is a heartfelt play written by playwright/actor Eric Ulloa, playing at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills.  It relates the story of the horrific massacre that took place on December 4, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, the mass shooting at Sand Hook Elementary School, in which 20 children and six school staff members were murdered.

            Ulloa went to Newtown to interview residents whose lives were changed forever by this atrocity.  He then created 23 Pebbles by putting them all together in an emotional and consoling play that takes place six months later.           

            The play consists of six excellent actors who each take on the role of the many number of residents whose stories make up the script.  The cast includes Jennifer Lee Laks (Jenn, Carla), Joe Lorenzo (Michael, Darren, Bill, Father Weiss), George Villas (Joe, Chris, Rabbi Shaul Praver, Mike), Jean Kauffman (Sally, Jeriann, Yolie), Michele Schultz (Gerogia, Kat, Carrie), and Roslyn Cohn (Julie, Starr, Carole). 

            Under the astute direction by Jules Aaron, these actors give a true human touch to the characters they play, and reveal how the people of Newtown came together to bond, cope, heal, and look ahead with hope for the future.

            This play will not leave you feeling down.  You will actually have an emotionally good feeling to know that the people of Newtown feel as the local rabbi remarked, “Newtown doesn’t want to be remembered as the town of tragedy.  We want to be remembered as a bridge to a new and kinder world.  It’s not about the suburbs or the urban areas.  It’s about the red blood that flows out of all of our veins.  It’s about the clear tears that flow out of our eyes.  We are all the same…”

            26 Pebbles plays Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 2 PM, through October 14, at Theatre 40, located in the Reuben Cordova Theatre, on the Beverly Hills High School Campus, 241 S. Moreno Dr, Beverly Hills.  Tickets are available online at www.theatre40.org, or by phone at (310) 364-0535.

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