Josh St. Hill, a creative high school student from Charlottesville, Virginia, wanted to shine a spotlight on police brutality against young, unarmed black men.
He had been working on a play tackling the topic for a while. And then the Charlottesville rally happened. After seeing the violence and police response to the protesters in his hometown, St. Hill decided he needed to get specific: he decided his play needed to take place in Charlottesville.
According to The Philadelphia Tribune, the Monticello High School junior has now finished his play, called A King's Story, which tells of a fictional black teenager named James King who is shot and killed by a white police officer in Charlottesville. Much like the incidents that have occurred in real life, James was unarmed and carrying a small amount of weed when he was shot.
St. Hill also stars in the play, portraying Elijah, James King's best friend. In the play, Elijah has to deal with the aftermath of his best friend's death, and the many emotions that come with it.
This isn't the first time a student at Monticello High School has been given the opportunity to put on a play that is personally meaningful. The school's theater teacher, Madeline Michel, encourages her students to engage with and to write works that have personal resonance.
“That’s what was on [St. Hill's] mind, you know? You have to let kids write about what they care about, and what their fears and dreams are,” Michel said.
“People are always asking, ‘Why are you guys doing the same plays?’ And our answer to that then was, ‘Because it’s still happening,’” said St. Hill. “And then July 8 rolls around, August 12 rolls around, and we’re like, ‘See? It’s still happening.’”
“Nobody wants bad things to keep happening,” he continued. “Nobody wants to see somebody die, but to see that happening in your own backyard, I feel like it’s just going to open up people’s eyes even more to understand the message and the rawness of this play.”
A King's Story has a musical component as well. Influenced by rappers such as J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Tupac and André 3000, St. Hill isn't just a playwright; he's a rapper, too, and has incorporated hip-hop into his play, inserting music between scenes to set the tone.
“I try to interpret music into this because I know sometimes if people can’t get it when you’re just talking in the scene, they might get it through a lyric that’s hitting them because I know a lot of people that operate that way,” St. Hill said.
St. Hill's classmates are hard at work to help him bring his vision to the public.
Monticello senior Amaya Wallace is handling directorial duties for the play, and has worked to make sure that its themes transcend politics.
“I know Josh and everyone else in the cast is really passionate about this and passionate about educating people and telling people how they feel, and I think this goes more than politics,” Wallace said. “It goes to human emotion and just being scared, being worried, but also being empowered.”
St. Hill's co-star, junior Kayla Scott, who portrays King’s girlfriend Lisa, also has put a lot of effort into ensuring that the emotions at the heart of the play come through, and hopes that the play will help people empathize with those that suffer police brutality.
“I just want them to take away that it hurts when you see people like you not being treated the same way as other people who don’t look like you,” Scott said.
“You’re a citizen of this country and you’re supposed to be protected, but you feel like the people who are supposed to protect you are not protecting you,” she added. “So, I just want everybody to know that we need to be on the same page. We don’t feel equal.”
Overall, St. Hill, too, wants to change minds and to facilitate real change.
“If I can do that, I’ll be happy,” he said. “Even if I can change one mind and everybody else hates me, I’ll still be happy. I can still go home and sleep at night.”
A King's Story will premiere at the Monticello High School on November 3; it is free to see, with donations encouraged.
