Two performers act in an ensemble from “The Bullycide Project,” a show dedicated to raising the awareness for suicides caused by bullying. The performance will premiere at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.
Hannah Pilarski said she never will look at bullying in the same way.
“Not to sound cliché, but it honestly has changed me,” said Pilarski, a kinesiology freshman. “You’re so much more aware of things — the simple things that were said to these kids, and it made them take their lives.”
Pilarski will perform music she wrote in “The Bullycide Project,” which debuts at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Wharton Center’s Pasant Theatre.
The performance focuses on the lives of 10 individuals who committed suicide due to bullying and was derived from “Bullycide in America,” a book written by mothers of students who took their lives.
Four of the 10 stories focus on students from Michigan. The production, which will be performed by actors in the Trust Theatre Ensemble from the Flint area, has traveled across Michigan and has received requests to perform in Canada.
East Lansing resident Kevin Epling, who is the co-director of Bully Police USA, helped coordinate bringing the performance to campus. Bully Police USA is an organization that pushes for state legislatures to pass anti-bullying laws.
Epling also became a leading advocate for Matt’s Safe School Law, which would require public schools in Michigan to implement an anti-bullying policy, after his son, Matt Epling, took his life in 2002.
Epling sought out Lori Thompson, artistic director of the Trust Theatre Ensemble and director of the production, about three years ago to work on the production.
“When I read (‘Bullycide in America’), I heard the voices of the parents writing the story, but I also heard the voice of the child,” Thompson said. “I just felt like that would be an effective performance — we would get a better understanding of what bullycide is from the perspective of the child, the parent, the schools and the bully.”
Thompson said to capture the essence of what families go through when dealing with a suicide from bullying, she and the actors in the production traveled to homes of the individuals who committed suicide, met with their parents and got a better understanding of where the students grew up.
She said the experience was an up close and personal way to learn about how to go about orchestrating the performance.
“It was humbling, it was uncomfortable (and) it was surreal and spiritual,” Thompson said.
“That’s the purpose of why we keep doing this performance — it’s not about us, it’s about that individual and how we can best tell their story.”
Epling, whose son’s story is told in the production, said Thompson has been successful in echoing the emotions of the issue into the stage performance.
“Lori has done an excellent job at crafting a piece that is engaging, that moves (and) that is something special to get the message across,” Epling said.
Pilarski, who was asked by Thompson to perform her original music in the production, said she hopes people walk away from the performance knowing how to handle bullies in their own lives.
“The most important thing that I want people to see is we’re not just about saying bullying is bad,” Pilarski said. “We’re also about saying, ‘Stop it.’ If you see it happening, stop it.”
And stopping bullying begins with looking at yourself, Thompson said.
“It’s not trying to blame parents or to blame agitators or friends or peer pressures,” Thompson said.
“People need to take some time and have some self-reflection. Sometimes we’re the bully, sometimes we get bullied and sometimes we’re the bystander.”
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For more information about Wednesday’s performance, visit whartoncenter.com or call the box office at (800) WHARTON. General admission tickets are $14.50, and students can contact the box office for tickets at a discounted rate.
