So many people’s lives have been touched by violence in today’s society. Increasingly, people are dealing with the trauma that they have been through and continue to face. One exceptional man took his personal crisis and found a way to deal with the aftermath: he wrote it into a play.
Dodging Bullets is a one-man play, written and performed by David Barker. He produced it in the years following the day in 2004 when his brother-in-law, a highly respected brain surgeon, grabbed a gun and started shooting.
The play will be presented by Central Methodist University on Wednesday, March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in The Little Theatre on the Fayette campus. Sponsored by Cultural Affairs and the CMU Student Government Association, the play is free and open to the public. It may not be appropriate for youngsters.
Barker portrays all of the people there that day—his mother, father, sister, and niece, as well as himself, his brother-in-law, and assorted other people. The staged scene includes only a chair and a table. In addition to the attack, the play deals with Barker’s father’s declining health, his mother’s dementia, and the ultimate rescue by a SWAT team.
Barker is an award-winning actor, director, mime, and fight choreographer. He graduated from Duquesne University with a B.S. in education and from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts with an M.F.A. in theatre arts. His credits include national and international tours; Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional and international theatre; and television. He currently teaches theatre at Arizona State University, where he also serves as the coordinator of the MFA Performance Program.