Fort Worth play honors lives lost 2 years after Uvalde school shooting
FORT WORTH – Two years have passed since 21 souls were taken at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde – 19 young students and two of their teachers.
People will commemorate the deadly mass shooting in different ways but one woman wrote a play to help remember the lives lost.
The playwright said that after what took place in Uvalde, she couldn't work on anything else until she finished "For the Love of Uvalde."
It's a collaboration between Texas Christian University, The Reducing Gun Violence Action Team of Tarrant County and Stage West.
"Crook in my neck, ache in my soul, God has called another one home," Ayvaunn Penn sings.
"I was devastated when I learned of the Robb Elementary School shooting," she said, "My devastation cannot compare to those who were directly impacted, but as a human being I could not think about anything else."
When Penn needs to work through something, she writes.
"As a Texas native, as a playwright, I felt moved and compelled to write a piece that would document this piece of Texas history, national history, give voice to those who were impacted directly," she said.
To honor the memory of the lives that were lost, Penn will perform a public reading of the play she wrote.
"For the Love of Uvalde" looks at the moments of the shooting, the chaos during that time and society grappling with wanting answers thereafter," said Penn.
It's her tribute: "So they could be heard and remembered and not forgotten," she said.
The performance is at 7 p.m. Friday night at Stage West in Fort Worth. You can reserve a free seat for the performance at www.fortheloveofuvalde.org