“Soft Target,” a new play by Emily Kaczmarek at Detroit Public Theatre through June 8, explores the impact of school shootings on youth. 

The play is centered around 9-year-old Amanda, who comes home changed after experiencing a school shooting. When her toys, which come to life, learn that she has witnessed a school shooting, they try to help her process the resulting trauma. Kaczmarek, a former high school teacher, began writing the play in 2018, the same year of the Parkland, Florida shooting where 17 people died. 

Kaczmarek wanted to look at what she calls the “third number.” She said the first number associated with a mass shooting are the direct victims who lost their lives. The second number is associated with those who are wounded, and the third number refers to families, first responders, faculty, and other students who aren’t physically harmed by the shooting but have been impacted by it. 

Cora Steiger, a 12-year-old from Oxford, Michigan, plays Amanda in “Soft Target.” Steiger remembers the Oxford High School shooting in 2021, where four students died and several others were injured, and how it impacted her community. 

“I didn’t personally experience the shooting, and I didn’t have family members at the high school at the time. But I do remember sitting at home… There were ambulances,” Steiger said. “It was kind of just crazy. And I think that really helped me be able to portray Amanda when I’m doing these hard scenes.” 

One Detroit producer Will Glover talks with Kaczmarek and Steiger about the play, which is now playing at Detroit Public Theatre where it had its world premiere, and how it approaches conversations on gun violence and childhood trauma. They also talk about the play’s messages of hope, courage and healing.